Postponing the 2020 Tokyo Games is the right call, past and present Olympians say
In the wake of the decision to postpone the 2020 Tokyo Games, past and present Olympians agree with the decision given how the ability to train has been made nearly impossible with a number of gyms and training facilities that have being shut recently due to the worldwide coronavirus pandemic.
The movement to postpone the Games had grown in recent days, and it culminated with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s announcement on Tuesday in which he said that International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach agreed that the event should be moved to 2021.
“Trying to hold it this year wouldn’t have been the right thing to do,” said retired sprinter Jeremy Wariner, a three-time gold medalist and Arlington Lamar product who is now training an Olympic hopeful.
“Postponing it really is the best thing. It allows the athletes to back off training and, in a month or so when everything starts dying down and they’re able to get out there, then they can reset their minds for next year.”
The Games, which had been scheduled to run from July 24 to Aug. 9, are expected to be postponed for up to 12 months. This is the first time in history that a scheduled Olympics will be pushed into another year, and it is the first disruption for a reason other than war.
Five previous Olympics Games — Summer 1916, and Winter and Summer in 1940 and 1944 — were canceled because of World War I or World War II.
“I pray that everyone stays safe in these unknowing times and that we can get back to living our normal lives,” said Fort Worth resident Vincent Hancock, a two-time gold medalist skeet shooter who has already qualified for the 2020 Games. “While having to postpone the Olympics is unfortunate for all the athletes who have trained so hard to get there, it is in the best interest of all those involved to have the Games at a later time.”
With states and counties closing gyms and issuing stay-at-home mandates, it’s been difficult for a number of athletes to find sufficient training facilities.
Wariner has seen it first hand.
He had been training an Olympic prospect out of the high school he coaches at, Dallas Parish Episcopal School, but the school shut down the whole facility in recent days. He then relocated workouts to SMU.
Along with the difficulty in finding places to train is the mental wear and tear of the unknown. Athletes build workouts and schedules around dates for specific meets and events, and the uncertainty when the Games would be held took its toll.
“It’s too much to ask for, too much for the athletes to deal with,” Wariner said. “For runners and jumpers, it’s hard for us to do much at home except maybe go on long runs on the treadmill. So we can’t do the workouts we need to do safely.”
Retired sprinter Jon Drummond, a TCU product who won a silver medal in 1996 and a gold medal in 2000, agreed.
“All of us love sports, but all of us have had to sacrifice this year,” Drummond said. “The NBA shut down. The NCAA shut down. Right now, athletes shouldn’t be at risk training.
“So I think it’s wise to put a pause on things and give everybody a fair chance to do what we’re supposed to do as a people. This is about the human race, not a race.”
What could have been …
Even though everyone understands the decision to postpone the Olympics, it doesn’t make it easier on a number of athletes.
The window to peak in sports such as track and field and gymnastics can be narrow. A year delay is a lifetime in some of those events.
A runner or jumper or gymnast who might have qualified for the Olympics in June 2020 may not in June 2021.
“Postponing it really changes the dynamic of a whole lot of people’s lives,” said Drummond, who is regarded as one of the best sprint starters in history.
“There’s always that one athlete that nobody knew, but because they were shining brighter in their event, this could’ve been that moment. This could’ve been that year. Everything was rolling out for them perfectly and now they don’t get that opportunity. One more year makes all the difference in physicality, strength, focus.
“Now you have to wait and hope that you have enough left in you to do it one more time.”
That rings true for those athletes who were expecting to make Tokyo their final moment, too, such as 33-year-old sprinter Natasha Hastings.
“This year was supposed to be my comeback year, but instead 2020 has been nothing but a year of loss so far,” Hastings posted on her social media account. “Athletics certainly doesn’t define me, but it’s painful watching everything you’ve worked so hard for seemingly be taken away from you without having any say in it at all.
“I do believe this is the best decision given the times we’re in facing this global pandemic. That doesn’t take away the sting of it all or quell the uncertainty going forward.”
Former sprinter Doc Patton, who competed in three Olympics and won two silver medals, understands it all. He feels for the athletes such as Hastings who will have to make a determination whether to keep pushing for another year.
“It’s tough, man,” said Patton, who ran at TCU and is now coaching track at Fort Worth All Saints. “You understand why they’re postponed, but it still doesn’t stop the pain. We train for this for four years. You wait for this moment. There’s something about every four years.
“I made my last team at age 35. If I had to do one more year, I don’t know what I’d do. I’d be shell-shocked. Do you keep training? Do you venture into real life? To redo it all is mentally draining. It’s tough.
“Some athletes will be able to do it, but it’s going to be hard.”
There’s more than just the physical and mental aspects, too. It’s hard to train and compete at a world-class level without financial backing.
As Patton said, “For some athletes, this will be it. Financially they won’t be able to do it for another year.”
Amateur aspect
Most Olympians don’t have multi-million dollar contracts or endorsement deals. They are true amateur athletes with jobs and lives outside the sport.
Trap shooter Brian Burrows of Denton recently opened an axe throwing company with his brother. Discus thrower Shelbi Vaughan of Azle is a part-time nanny, part-time volleyball coach, part-time substitute teacher all in an effort to essentially be a full-time athlete.
“Anything to pay the bills and let me focus on the sport,” said Vaughan, who made her Olympic debut in 2016 at Rio.
For Vaughan, though, her main concern with the postponement has nothing to do with financially or missing her “peak.” At 25, Vaughan believes she still has at least another decade to compete at a high level.
But the year delay has complicated matters in her desire to start a family after these Olympics. The timing would have been right in terms recovery and being ready for the 2024 Games. Now, that might change with only a three-year gap between Games.
“For me and a lot of women in sports, we want to have children one day and trying to plan around that, it’s a huge difference when there’s an Olympics in four months versus an Olympics next year,” said Vaughan, who made her Olympic debut in 2016 at Rio.
“That’s the biggest thing I’m dealing with is trying to schedule my life circumstances around my profession circumstances, if that makes any sense.”
All Olympians are back to the drawing board, whether it’s personal decisions on family matters such as what Vaughan faces or restructuring an entire training regimen.
All had planned for the Games to be held this summer, not next.
“My training plan was set for this year and I felt very comfortable in my lead up,” said Hancock, who shoots out of Fort Worth Trap & Skeet. “Now I’ll have to go back to the drawing board and figure out what will give me the best advantage for next year, whenever the Games will be held.”
This story was originally published March 24, 2020 at 11:48 AM.
