Destination Tokyo for local sports commentator

BY ALISON MARTIN

TORQUAY-based sports commentator Chris Stubbs is getting ready for the “ultimate goal for any sports journo”, covering the Olympics out of Sydney and then flying to Japan for the Paralympics.

“The Olympics have always been a dream for me,” Chris said.

“As a sports-mad kid carrying the torch in 2000 when I was 17, I remember watching Cathy Freeman with it and thought ‘I held that’ and that was it, I either wanted to be an Olympic competitor or commentator.”

And in the midst of a pandemic, Chris also knows how fortunate he is to be travelling anywhere, particularly to be part of the two major international sporting events this year.

“I feel really privileged; I certainly don’t take it for granted,” he said.

“Preparations for everyone were thrown into chaos last year and I’m glad they’re going ahead to let people see that we can still have events.

“We can’t just put life on hold.”

The experienced Fox Sports and Channel 7 commentator said he was confident the Olympics and Paralympics would be well managed and he had spent more time thinking about being away from his young family for two months rather than concerns about COVID while in Japan for the Paralympics.

“I’ve been fully vaccinated and I have complete faith in what the organisers have in place over there,” Chris said, explaining the detailed regime of masks, social distancing, GPS and extensive testing schedule that had been developed.

“I just received 67 pages of guidelines specifically for journos; there’s a lot of detail,” he said.

“We have two weeks of quarantine then into the bubble scenario, cover the games then back to the hotel, eat, sleep, repeat.

“No going out, only eating at the hotel and we’ll be as protected as we possibly can be.

“To be honest, the hardest part will be that effectively I’m away for two months.

“I’ll fly to Sydney for the Olympics for three weeks, home for a couple of days, up to Queensland for motorsport, then to Tokyo for three weeks, then quarantine for two weeks when we get back.

“Effectively I’ll be a Facetime father for two months – but that’s life in a COVID world, just follow the advice and I know that I’ll have stories to tell the kids when I get home.”

Chris admitted it had been an unnerving time since the pandemic started in regards to work, not knowing what would go ahead and what would be cancelled.

He said he was at the 2020 Australian Grand Prix in March last year when it was cancelled at the start of the pandemic but had been able to cover the 2021 Australian Open during lockdown.

“I was really comfortable with what was put in place for the Open and it was great success, which really demonstrated that it was possible to hold it, and hold it well.”

Meanwhile, Chris remains very much focused on the spirit of the Olympics, and particularly covering his first Paralympics.

He has fantastic memories of being at the London Games, from interviewing Michael Phelps to watching Usain Bolt win gold and is looking forward to covering a range of different sports at the Olympics from the Sydney studio.

But Chris admits that going to the Paralympics in Japan is “super exciting”.

“I’m covering the wheelchair basketball, rugby and tennis, and the road cycling at Mount Fuji and velodrome events at Tokyo, so I’m among a few commentators that will actually be able to leave Tokyo when I go to Mount Fuji,” he said.

“It’s been great to see the amount of coverage of the trials for the Paralympics.

“Paralympians are such great storytellers and just so willing to chat.

“These athletes are the best at their sport, full stop, but their stories are more interesting because of what they’ve had to overcome to get where they are.”

Chris is also expecting conditions in Japan to be “intense”, with temperatures in their mid 30s, high humidity and wearing masks all of the time.

“We can only remove our masks if someone needs to be able to lip read or if there’s a perspex screen,” he said.

“I know I lost about five kilos at London and had about four hours sleep a night so with the weather and masks at Tokyo, it’s going to be full on.

“It’s going to be challenging and phenomenal for all those reasons.”