Water polo returns six months before Tokyo Olympics
Issued on:
20/01/2021 - 15:29 3 min
Trieste (Italy) (AFP)
Six months before the Tokyo Olympics, water polo returns after almost a year bereft of international competition with eight nations battling in Trieste this week for the two remaining women s berths in Japan.
Flags, anthems and matches are all behind closed doors, with social distancing and compulsory masks outside the pool in the Italian port city.
A foretaste of what possibly awaits athletes during this pandemic era at the Summer Games in Japan from July 23 to August 11. It s strange, not even being able to give a hand check (fist to fist) with rivals at the end of the match, not seeing anybody, but that s how it is. It has become normal, Greece s Christina Tsoukala told AFP, after getting seven goals past rivals Kazakhstan.