India’s Olympic-bound athletes welcome Tokyo Games postponement
Life comes first, sport can wait. This was the collective view of India’s top Olympic-bound athletes, including stalwarts such as M C Mary Kom and Saina Nehwal, as they lauded the Tokyo Games’ postponement.
“The situation right now is not good. Life always comes first, everything else can wait. Players’ safety is paramount. I think it’s (postponement) good for everyone. Now I get more time to prepare, our training plans can be extended. And it’s not just for me, it is true for everyone around the world.”
“Happy that it’s postponed even though some of us haven’t qualified. We are eager to know what the qualification (process) would be like going ahead. As an athlete who’s played Olympics before I would say it’s good as everyone can chill now and not worry about preparations amid a lockdown. We all have to be safe first and then we can think about preparations.”
“It’s a good decision because everyone is disturbed. Athletes’ health is paramount. No one is training properly. It’s not just about India, it’s also about the entire world. We first have to save people from this epidemic.”
“Whatever happens, happens for a good reason. Now we have more time to prepare. It’s good for my performance. I will continue training.”
“...Since training had stopped, we would have needed another three-four months time to prepare. So, we wanted postponement. Now we can refresh ourselves and restart the competitions (training).”
“We were prepared for this year’s Olympics. We were ready but what do you do when something like this happens. It’s beyond everyone’s control. We will again prepare for 2021. I would have fought well this year also, but now I have more time to toughen up.”
“At the moment it’s the right decision to take. It’s sad but at the moment it is a sensible decision to take...There’s disappointment obviously but well things are not really in your hand.”
“It is very disappointing that the Olympics will not go ahead in 2020, but given the unprecedented circumstances facing the world at present it is totally understandable and expected.”
“I just had a meeting with the team and broke this news to the group. Though it is disappointing, the girls told me, ‘It’s ok, Coach. We will continue to work the way we are and this probably gives us more time to prepare for the Olympic Games & be our best.”
“...It was really required as no athlete is able to train all over the world...It’s good that the Olympic is postponed and now we have proper time to train and prepare and plan.”
“I think that’s the best that can happen in this situation but as an athlete it's a bit hard as a lot of training has gone in preparation for the 2020 Olympics. Now the preparation has to carry on for another one more year.”