After the Olympic postponement last year the Summer Games in Tokyo will now take place from 23 July to 8 August 2021. The IOC's (International Olympic Committee) plan worked out, even though no spectators are allowed in Tokyo due to the coronavirus pandemic - not even locals.
This was the IOC's response to the growing criticism of the organisation of the Games. Japan is still struggling with high coronavirus infection rates and vaccination of the population is making slow progress. The Japanese population, experts and individual sponsors are also pushing for a Cancellation of the Olympic Games.
Who will be competing at the Olympics?
Regardless of the number of spectators lining the course, the starting field at the Olympic Games is traditionally small. 38 men and 38 women - including a few exotic athletes who are unlikely to compete for the top places - are allowed to start. The qualification process for mountain bikers is long and complicated. Due to the almost cancelled coronavirus season last year, it has been running since 2019, with the last decisive races being the World Cups in Albstadt and Nove Mesto.
The decisive factor in deciding which nation is allowed to send how many athletes to the Olympics is the Nation ranking of the UCI The first two countries in the ranking get three starting places, two places each for places 3 to 7 (including Germany, for both men and women) and one starting place each for places up to 21.
Switzerland has nominated Olympic champion Nino Schurter, Mathias Flückiger and Filippo Colombo for the men's race, while Jolanda Neff, Sina Frei and Linda Indergand are travelling to Tokyo for the women's race. With Jordan Sarrou, Victor Koretzky, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and Loana Lecomte, France is sending three reigning world champions to the Olympics. However, this also means that top riders such as Lars Forster, Titouan Carod and Maxime Marotte will not be at the start.
It is now also clear who the two German men and women in Tokyo are. Elisabeth Brandau and Ronja Eibl have been officially nominated by the BDR (German Cycling Federation). Max Brandl and Manuel Fumic have received tickets for the men's race and can pack their bags for Tokyo. Read more about the German Olympic nominations here >>
Shooting star and Nove Mesto winner Tom Pidcock also had a long wait to see if it would be enough for a place for Great Britain in the men's race. But it was enough for the 21-year-old U23 world champion. This means that nothing stands in the way of a duel with superstar Mathieu van der Poel (26). The Dutchman wants to finish the Tour de France early so that he can race for gold at the Olympics in Tokyo.
The Olympic MTB course in Tokyo
The 4.1 kilometre long, technically demanding Olympic course with an elevation gain of 150 metres is located on the Izu Peninsula to the south-west of Tokyo. The Izu mountain bike course was designed by the same course designers who built the MTB courses in London and Rio. At the test race in October 2019, many of the Olympic starters were able to get a first impression, including Manuel Fumic: "The course is very steep, technical and there are only short climbs. It's not an easy course." After the test race, Nino Schurter also told aCrosstheCountrythat it is the most difficult Olympic course he has ridden so far.
Impressions of the MTB test race in October 2019 on the Olympic course in Tokyo.
TV broadcast
The MTB races will take place in the first week of the Olympics. On 26 July it's the men's turn, on 27 July the women will be fighting for the medals. The races will start at 15:00 in Japan, which corresponds to 08:00 in the morning German time. On the day of the men's race, the ZDFthe following day, ARD.
