Pablo Villar was one of many present during the broadcast ©COC

The Colombian Olympic Committee (COC) Athletes' Commission held it first Instagram Live broadcast last week, featuring interviews with athletes, coaches and physical trainers during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Paulo Villar, who represents athletes on the COC Executive Committee, directed the transmission, with the main focus on clarity surrounding the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Sebastián Uprimny, a cross-country skier who is also on the Athletes' Commission, said of the current crisis: "What we want to be is a link between the athletes, the Federations and the Olympic committees, we want to help them, what they need and more on the subject of the pandemic, what better time to support them and communicate their needs to the respective entities." 

Villar also spoke about his initial doubts over the resources available to athletes the status of those who have already qualified for Tokyo 2020.

"The resources that cover the Olympic cycle are protected, the idea is always to be able to support the participation and preparation of athletes by complying with all the calendar that is presented," Villar said.

"Also, it was confirmed that those athletes who are part of the supported athlete programme will not be at risk and will continue to be supported."

Villar went on to mention that there is work being done  to keep athletes in shape while they stay at home and that the postponement of the Games helped athletes with their preparation for the competition.

Physiotherapist Laura Rojas was also present on the broadcast and spoke about how her role had changed under the current restrictions. 

Rojas commented: "We are working hard on the preparation of each athlete, the coverage is interesting since we can reach everyone, athletes at this time and during the quarantine have been physically working and we working in prevention from each of the sports and specific exercises for them."