SoCal Olympic hopefuls support Games postponement to 2021

From his Rocky Mountain training base, triathlete Matt McElroy could see what was ahead for him and thousands of Olympic athletes, a decision that loomed at first in the distance and then grew ever closer, more inevitable with each day, with each death.

The Olympic Games would not take place in Tokyo this summer because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We kind of saw this coming from like two weeks ago,” McElroy said. “I was just preparing for it based on the increased number of deaths.”

Monday, McElroy, a former distance running standout at Edison High School in Huntington Beach and Northern Arizona, cancelled $5,000 worth of plane tickets to Tokyo for his family and friends.

Tuesday, the International Olympic Committee made it official, formally postponing the Tokyo Games to the summer of 2021.

“Everyone knows it’s the right decision,” said McElroy, who now trains in Boulder. “It’s an obvious one.”

And a move that was welcomed by Southern California athletes.

“I’m happy there’s finally a decision,” said world champion hurdler Nia Ali.

Olympic swimming champion Tom Shields, like McElroy and Ali, expected the IOC decision.

“We kind of knew it was going to happen,” Shields, a former Edison High standout said in a phone interview from Berkeley, Calif. “It’s a bummer, for sure. It’s a loss. It’s a significant loss of potential income for me this year but it’s what needs doing. I’m in no different of a position than everyone else in the country. What’s for me to complain about?

“We’re in the entertainment industry, like I’ve been saying.This is something that is easily given up and it’s good for us to do so.”

While many Southern California athletes, like Olympic prospects around the world, remain uncertain as to when or where they will be able to resume their regular workouts, the postponement announcement eases their anxiety over whether they should risk their health by training or not being able train because of virus related restrictions.

“It’s been a little bit confusing,” said Michael Norman, a former NCAA champion sprinter for USC and the Tokyo 400-meter gold medal favorite. “A little big foggy.”

Norman is currently without a track to train on after USC shut down its facility last week because of Los Angeles city and county restrictions. He and roommate Rai Benjamin, another former USC NCAA champion and a gold medal contender in the 400 hurdles, were able to train at UCLA’s Drake Stadium Monday for just 10 minutes before getting kicked out.

Ali, a former Trojan standout, has faced similar issues at her current Jacksonville, Florida training base. Like Norman and Benjamin, Ali does not have access to a track and has limited her fitness routines because of the pandemic.

“I stay within the guidelines,” Ali said. “The safety of others is just as important. So I stay isolated and try to stay fit as best we can.”

Ali, 31, has also had to juggle training and childcare with schools, daycare and pre-school businesses closing. Ali gave birth to son Titus Maximus just 15 months before claiming a silver medal in the 2016 Olympic Games 100 hurdles. Titus, now 4, is in pre-kindergarten. Daughter Yuri Zen, not quite 2, was in daycare while her mother trained.

“It’s been pretty hectic,” Ali said.

McElroy, the first American male since 2009 and only the second ever to podium at a World Triathlon Series race, has been without access to a pool since last week. He has still been able to run and ride.

“We’re still training quite a bit but not with too much intensity,” McElroy said while riding on a cycling trainer. “You don’t want to put too much on your immune system because if one of us gets sick it could affect the rest of the team.”

Health concerns led to a recent decision to have the 10 members, including McElroy, of the international training group in Colorado to train solo.

“We shut it down the last couple of days,” McElroy said. “Until this all kind of mellows out we’re training by ourselves.”

McElroy, however, has kept the Olympic year in perspective.

“There’s losing a year,” he said, “and then there’s losing lives.

“If the Olympics are next summer I’ll be ready to go. If they were this summer, I’d be ready to go.”

Shields, who turns 29 in July, is also undeterred and will continue to train for the 2021 Games and his second Olympics.

“I just went a best time unshaved,” he said, “which is unheard of at my age. … There’s something there. I think there’s something left for me to do, so I’m excited.”

Ali, a two-time World indoor champion, is coming off the best season of her career. She won the 100 hurdles title at the World Outdoor championships in Doha last fall, clocking a personal best of 12.34 seconds, making her the favorite for the gold medal in Tokyo.

“I’ve been training so hard up to this point hoping all that momentum from last year would carry over,” Ali said. “So I’ve had a bunch of mixed emotions.”

But resiliency has been a constant through Ali’s career and life.

“I’m pretty equipped to handle things as they come,” she said. “I always preach that the most important thing in life is not what’s happened but how you react.”

from News: Redlands Daily Facts https://ift.tt/39eys1C