Breastfeeding children allowed to accompany mothers to Tokyo 2020
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Updated 01/07/2021 at 18:03 GMT
It's reassuring news for female athletes at Tokyo 2020 who want to bring their children with them - the organisers have told them that it will be permitted if their offspring are breastfeeding. It's clarification following a previous suggestion that it would be allowed "when necessary", which riled some competitors.
Alex Morgan with her daughter Charlie
Image credit: Getty Images
Mothers competing at Tokyo 2020 have been reassured that their children will be able to accompany them - if they are still breastfeeding.
Athletes had previously been unsure whether their children would be permitted into the country under the current restrictions. The guidance had said children would be allowed to stay only outside the Olympic village and only "when necessary", which was a lack of clarity that angered footballer Alex Morgan, for one.
"Still not sure what 'when necessary' even means," she wrote on Twitter. "We are Olympic mothers telling you, it is necessary. I have not been contacted about being able to bring my daughter with me to Japan and we leave in seven days."
However, the organisers have now said to the BBC: "Children must be within nursing age. National Olympic Comittees will be responsible for confirming to Tokyo 2020 that children who accompany athletes to Japan require nursing care."
The clarification has come a little late for some athletes, who have already made arrangements to leave their children with carers at home, with appropriate stocks of frozen milk.
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