Wow, what a time USA Wheelchair Rugby has been having in Tokyo! We’ve been here for six days now, and honestly, I had to check to see what day it is because they don’t seem to matter. Instead of remembering what day it is, we’re all focused on our first game, and every day takes a number off the countdown. It currently sits at two!

Although we have only been in Tokyo less than a week, we are on day 16 of being together as a team. This time together before a major tournament has never happened before, as COVID-19 caused our last camp to be moved up to coincide with our departure to Tokyo. It’s been a focused two weeks with positive energy flowing through the team.

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Traveling with 26 Wheelchairs

We have 12 guys on our roster, one coach who uses a chair, and one extra competition chair. Thirteen competition chairs plus 13 everyday chairs equals 26 wheelchairs in total. I know, guys … impressive! I was a math major for a semester in college.

Our home base, where we had our last training camp, is in Birmingham, Alabama. The first leg of our flight to Japan was on a small, regional jet from Birmingham to Chicago. Our competition chairs and wheel bags flew the day before to make room for all of us and our wheelchairs. It made for much easier logistics and alleviated some stress for the long day of travel to Tokyo.

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I treated myself to business class for the long leg of the flight. I had never been in the section of the plane where a person can lie all the way flat and I wasn’t sure if my 6-foot-6-inch body would be able to do that, but wow! I think it might have ruined me for flying internationally any other way. My co-captain, Chuck Melton, who is around 6 feet, 5 inches, sat in the seat next to me, and the whole thing was amazing. It was a great way to start the trip, and again it alleviated stress.

COVID-19 Testing Terror

We spent three hours going through COVID-19 protocols upon arrival at Haneda airport in Tokyo. It was a critical game of hurry up and wait. The last step was waiting for the test results to come back. This was the final hurdle to gain access to accreditation and a bus ride to the village. The Tokyo 2020 official came up and said we were all good to go except for one person whose test results were inconclusive. The lady said the four numbers that identified the player and we all looked to see if it was ours. Of course, it was mine, so we waited another hour. It was terrifying, to say the least — if the test came back positive, I would be going home before my games even started. But 45 minutes later we had good news and away we went.

 We currently have one more training session and then it’s opening ceremony day! The day after that we play our first game against New Zealand. Check back in soon, as my teammate Chuck Aoki will have a blog sharing his experience with opening ceremonies and that first game.

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On Tuesday, Aug. 24 you can check out Delagrave and the rest of USA Wheelchair Rugby play New Zealand live at 10:30 p.m. Eastern on NBCSN. To follow along and give the team some love, head over to @USAWR and Delagrave’s personal Instagram @jdelagrave14

For more on how to see your favorite Paralympic sport, check out our watch guide.