Right call was made to postpone the Tokyo Games – Loughnane

FORMER World Champion racewalker Olive Loughnane says the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo organising committee made the only decision they could by postponing the Olympic and Paralympic Games until July 2021.

2009 World gold medallist Loughnane, who is a member of the Sport Ireland board, says the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic across the world had made hosting qualifiers, never mind the Olympics, an impossible task.

“For one, not everybody had qualified for the Games, so how (given the travel restrictions etc.) were they going to qualify athletes?” begins the four-time Olympian. “There was also the fact that the situation keeps evolving and, so, it wasn’t going to be a level playing field for everyone.

“Realistically, though, the life of an athlete preparing for the games is not conducive to managing the spread of Covid-19. You are travelling to different counties, you are with different people, and I think athletes realised this. Athletes have families too, obviously. I never thought there would be something bigger in an Olympic year for athletes, but that is really the case here.”

She also notes that a number of athletes, including boxer Christina Desmond, work on the front line in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. “So, I think for everyone’s safety, the decision had to be made. We all love sport but I think this has made us realise that sport is only one part of our lives.”

Still, the Carrabane great, who now lives in Cork, understands the disappointment many athletes will be feeling after gearing themselves up for the Games this summer. “I would be in contact with Sanita Puspure and some of the rowers that are based down in Cork. They train right beside me here.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.

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