Social distancing: Tokyo Olympics winners will have to put their medals on necks by themselves

In a 'very significant change', athletes will now put their medals around their own necks to protect against spreading the coronavirus in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.

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The change in tradition was revealed by International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach on Wednesday.

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“The medals will not be given around the neck,” Bach told international media on a conference call from Tokyo. “They will be presented to the athlete on a tray and then the athlete will take the medal him or herself.”

“It will be made sure that the person who will put the medal on tray will do so only with disinfected gloves so that the athlete can be sure that nobody touched them before,” Bach added.

Bach said that there will be no hand shales and hugs during the medal ceremony.

Earlier, the medals were presented by an IOC member or a leading official in a sport’s governing body.

The IOC also said that the medallists and the ceremony officials will have to wear masks due to the COVID-19 crisis.

The Summer Games will kick off on July 23 and will be held behind closed doors due to a state of emergency in Japan in the wake of the surge in COVID-19 cases.