New Zealand's Paralympians will be greeted by Covid-19 protocols "more stringent" than their competitors when they start arriving in Tokyo on Thursday.
The Tokyo Paralympics will be Sophie Pascoe's fourth Games. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
As Covid-19 cases continue to rise in Japan and a state of emergency is extended, Paralympics NZ's chef de mission Paula Tesoriero, who has just arrived in the country, said the top priority was to keep the team made up of 29 athletes and 37 support staff safe.
"The team protocols that we have put in place, they are more stringent than the playbooks that [organisers] Tokyo 2020 have put out, and that's because we take the risks really seriously.
"We need to look after ourselves and look after other nations and the Japanese public," Tesoriero said.
New Zealand's athletes from six sports will be split into bubbles, aligned with their sports, across three accommodation sites.
"It's not perfect, because there are some people who need to go across sports, but we really tried to put in place within our accommodation and the way that that's set up everything we can to mitigate any Covid risks."
Tokyo National Stadium Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Paralympians with compromised general health have raised some concerns about competing in a pandemic but Tesoriero said it was no different to Olympians with health concerns taking part in the recent Tokyo Olympics.
"Everybody's made a decision, their own decision to be at the Games.
"For athletes who do have an underlying health condition or have particular concerns we've made sure that our medical team work with them. Our whole team is fully vaccinated and so that gives us a level of comfort. It's really just been about providing support for those who want to talk through their health concerns and making sure that we continue to reinforce safe practices."
Spending their time in Tokyo separated from their New Zealand teammates in the other bubbles as well as athletes from other nations could take away from the experience - so Paralympics NZ is working to keep their entire team connected to each other and their families back home.
A record 168 countries are scheduled to compete in 22 sports at the Paralympics.
Tesoriero won a gold and two bronze medals at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games in para cycling and fondly remembers the social and sharing aspect.
Paula Tesoriero Photo: PHOTOSPORT
"One of the really important things that we need to do as a team is make sure that we have a team culture where we look after everyone's wellbeing, we celebrate success, we have fun. It is more challenging to do in an environment where we separated from each other.
"One of the wonderful things about the Paralympic Games that I've always loved has been the camaraderie with other teams, because everyone has a story, and everyone wants to check out everyone's new technology. Some of it's just going to be more challenging and not able to happen in this environment."
Paralympians William Stedman, Lisa Adams and Holly Robinson. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Among New Zealand's Paralympic team are 18 debutants who will be experiencing top level competition without their usual support network.
"As an athlete, when you're about to perform on the world stage at the pinnacle event, you do want to make sure that you're connected with your family and friends.
"In that regard, we're also providing regular updates back home, and opportunities for the public to really get behind us and support us.
"Because there are no spectators at these games there will be times where just really feeling that intense support from home will be incredibly important."