For many athletes, there is a steady reassurance in the schedule of championships and competition; the biennial World Athletics Championships, for the runners there are the key marathons (Abbott World Marathon Majors) of Berlin, London, New York Chicago and Boston to aim for, and in the track and field, much of the season is comprised of the Diamond League athletics series and the August European Championships.
However this year has turned training projects, injury comebacks, career horizons and even retirement plans on their head. Forced to train alone and at home, with a long stretch of empty months of strained motivation ahead of them, for some, it was unendurable.
One such athlete is Tetsuya Sotomora; with a 4th at Beijing, and subsequent injuries forcing him out of Rio and London, Tokyo was to be this 35 year-old’s last shot, a hometown Olympics for a career end. But the physical strain and gruelling months ahead decided for him: “A year feels like a very long time. So, I have decided retirement is the only option."
Sotomora is not the only one to tell this story - many others, from diver Alicia Bragg, to rower Tom Ransley are also among the many reluctantly retiring early, due to the immense physical strains that they have been under and would have to remain under for an extra year.
The year delay, although devastating for some, will provide an opportunity for athletes whose 2019 performances were marred by injury, and even allowing some pregnancies and time to recover for some athletes who weren’t expecting any chance to compete at Tokyo. For example, Nafi Thiam (Belgium), 2016 Olympic and 2017 World champion, was not able to perform at her best against rival Katerina Johnson Thompson of Britain during the 2019 October World Championships in Doha due to an elbow injury. Johnson-Thompson’s win was not at all down to this, and she put in a fantastic, British-record-breaking performance to secure the gold, but given this extra year for the two women to prepare, perhaps the positions of advantage may be altered over the course of the next few months.
Of course the incredible Eliud Kipchoge, who has seen so much success over the marathon in recent years, will be challenged by up and coming marathoners. He was one of the many thrown by this year’s events, seriously struggling in the London Marathon in October, while his rival and one of the all-time greats, Kenenisa Bekele, was forced to pull out due to injury, with both athletes nearing 40.
British athletics also has much to look forward to, with Jake Wightman, Laura Muir and Jemma Reekie among the world’s best in middle distance, and world champions Dina Asher-Smith and Katerina Johnson Thompson very much in the media headlights for gold medals. Retained titles are hoped for from the likes of Adam Peaty, Max Whitlock and Jade Jones, but it would be naive to hope that this Olympics will be a balanced and unaffected alternative to the plan for 2020. Many medal hopes will be dashed, and adrenaline and emotions will run high for the numerous athletes who gritted their teeth and persisted through the dark months of the pandemic.
COPYRIGHT - Bea Wood
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