Guinea’s five athletes will now participate in the Tokyo Olympics after all, a statement from the West African nation’s sports ministry said on Thursday.

This reversed the previous day’s decision to suspend its participation in the Games, citing the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Wednesday, sports minister Sanoussy Bantama Sow said in a letter to the country’s National Olympic Committee that the government had cancelled Guinea’s participation.

He said the decision was to “preserve the health of the country’s athletes” due to a surge in COVID-19 variants.

Daily coronavirus infections in Tokyo rose to 1,979 cases on Thursday, the city had said, the highest level since January.

The letter dated July 21 gave no further reasons for the decision to pull out of the Olympics.

However, the move sparked an immediate reaction from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which sent a letter to Guinea’s Olympic authorities on Thursday.

The IOC said it was “extremely surprised by the last-minute decision.”

“We are convinced that this is a misunderstanding because you know all necessary measures have been taken by the IOC and Tokyo 2020 to guarantee the health of athletes and participants,” said the IOC letter.

It urged Guinea’s authorities to reconsider the decision immediately.

Mr Sow said in the sports ministry statement on Thursday that the government had now agreed the athletes could participate in the Olympics, having received guarantees from health authorities.

It gave no further details.

The five athletes are female 100 metres runner Aissata Deen Conte, judoka Mamadou Samba Bah, wrestler Fatoumata Yarie Camara, as well as swimmers Mamadou Tahirou Bah and Fatoumata Lamarana Touré.

(Reuters/NAN)