AIS closes doors to public to protect athletes from coronavirus

The Canberra Times revealed last week the institute had been inundated with requests from sports about using the facilities while the rest of the Australia goes into health and safety lockdown.

Swimming, athletics, boxing, basketball and water polo are among those who could relocate their top athletes to Canberra to use existing facilities as a training base.

The AIS has agreed to suspend public activity at all building on the 65 hectare campus at Bruce to provide "the safest possible training environment".

The move came on the same day Gymnastics ACT suspended all competition for the next three months, Cricket ACT cancelled its grand final for the first time in almost 70 years, Capital Football postponed matches and hockey waits to make a decision on its seasons.

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AIS chief executive Peter Conde said: "Under our remit to lead and enable Australian high performance sport, we are mobilising and have a duty of care to do everything within our control to provide safe and effective training environments for Australian athletes.

"However, with preparations continuing for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics later this year, we are doing everything we can to support Australia's athletes, coaches and sports to minimise any disruption to their training.

"Our Australian athletes have been training much of their lives for this opportunity to represent their country and we thank the community for their understanding in these uncertain times.

"We do acknowledge the risks associated with the rapidly-changing environment around COVID-19 and have committed to regularly updating sport with relevant information about the AIS campus."

The AIS pool, some gym facilities, cafes and the athletics track are accessible to the public. All of those will now be closed, as well as the AIS Arena and the cancellation of tours.

The AIS medical team will continue to screen all users of AIS facilities and monitor health on site. The site has enhanced all cleaning and hygiene protocols.

Critics of the institute have been vocal in recent months, slamming Conde and his team for moving away from a history of being a sports hub.

The AIS and Sport Australia, both federal government bodies, have been working on plans to sell half of the campus, likely to the ACT government, and fund upgrades to some of the facilities.

Staff have been cut over the years and fewer teams now use the institute as a base since the scholarship system was abolished.

But there could be an influx of athletes, who are keen to stay fit and have venues to train at in case the Tokyo Olympics goes ahead.

World champion javelin thrower Kelsey-Lee Barber could be forced to cancel her overseas trips later this year, while some of Australia's best track and field athletes converged on the refurbished AIS track in January.

The AIS track is regarded as the fastest in Australia after a $2 million upgrade for this year to have the same blue Mondo surface to be used at the Tokyo Games.

Meanwhile, Gymnastics ACT has cancelled its events until at least June, saying: "We understand the significant impact this has on athletes and in fact the entire gymnastics community. Sport is part of our social fabric, however the health and safety of our athletes, coaches, officials and volunteers must be our priority.

"We urge clubs to take a common-sense approach to training and club activities and we strongly encourage clubs to implement additional hygiene practices to keep all clubs members healthy and reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19. This includes promoting hygiene practices and social distancing measures."

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