Tokyo Olympics: Winner and losers from delay of Games
Sport can be all about the timing: for some athletes the delay of the Tokyo Games due to COVID has been a Godsend, for others it has led to a sad end.
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It was a pregnant pause of Olympic proportions.
All of a sudden, training regimes were rewritten and peak performances rescheduled.
For some, it meant waiting that bit longer for their Olympic debut, for others it meant delaying retirement by another year.
Sadly, for a minority of elite athletes, the delayed Tokyo Olympics resulted in walking away.
The 12-month delay that turned 2020 Olympic preparations upside down can be bookended by the journey of Matilda Katrina Gorry and marathoner Jess Stenson (nee Trengove).
For Gorry, 2021 was always pencilled in as the year the 28-year-old wanted to fall pregnant – it was the only downtime in the Matildas’ playing schedule in the next four years.
Not even a pandemic was going to change Gorry’s desire to start a family so she is staying at home.
But for Stenson, the delayed Games gifted the runner an outside chance to make the starting line of her third Olympics following the birth of her son Billy.
This is the yin and yang of COVID-19 and the Tokyo Olympics, for every upside, there is a downside.
Stenson is realistic about the challenge ahead of her.
In deciding to chase her Tokyo dream, the 33-year-old gave herself just six months post-pregnancy to be race fit and to post a qualifying time.
With travel restrictions and the uncertainty of mass participation events going ahead, Athletics Australia announced a new marathon event for April 25 specifically for elite athletes to post qualifying times before the Olympic qualification deadline of May 31.
But even a sub 2hr30min will not guarantee Trengove selection.
“The depth in distance running in Australia is outstanding, and it’s a super tight window,” she said.
“But I guess I am one of the lucky ones who now get an extra chance – even if that’s an outside chance.”
Australia already has four women with qualification times – Sinead Diver, Lisa Weightman, Ellie Pashley and Milly Clark.
Trengove would probably need to run under 2:26:21 to win a spot on the team for Tokyo.
“I just feel so grateful to be able to run because when you go into something new like having a baby you don’t know if running will be the same as it was,” she said.
WINNERS DUE TO TOKYO OLYMPIC GAMES DELAY
Dani Stevens (discus)
In an extraordinary return to competition, the world-class discus thrower has recovered from spinal surgery and year-long rehabilitation.
Stevens threw 63.36 metres last month, just shy of the qualifier of 63.5 metres but had already thrown a qualifier pre losing use of her right arm during a weightlifting session.
The gift of an extra 12 months may see the 32-year-old become the first Australian woman to throw 70 metres in her event – and win a medal in Tokyo.
Ben Simmons (basketball)
Simmons wants an Olympic medal but it will only be the delayed NBA season, and not knee or back injuries, that may stop him.
If Simmons and his Philadelphia 76ers run deep into the play-offs, it would likely rule Simmons out of his first Olympics as the NBA finals end just as the Games begin.
Quarantine regulations would make it difficult for NBA players to join their national teams.
But the 76ers have to make the playoffs first.
Twelve months ago, Simmons was juggling a nerve impingement in his back so severe he was vomiting in pain.
Fast forward and Simmons is now talking about winning an Olympic medal.
Jenna McCormick and Michelle Heyman (women’s football)
Two names firming up in Tokyo conversations that were missing 12 months ago.
Injuries and anxiety saw Heymann announce her retirement in 2019 but the forward is back wearing the boots for Canberra in the W-League.
McCormick, 26, cut short a nightmare stint in Spain to join W-League club Melbourne City this season and is working overtime to secure a plane ticket to Tokyo.
Oliver Hoare (1500m athletics)
Hoare clocked one of the fastest 1500m indoor times ever but he still might not qualify for Tokyo.
In February, the 24-year-old stormed home at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in New York, winning in 3:32.35 – an Australian record and the sixth-fastest indoor time ever.
However, selection will come down to an independent panel and AOC agreeing on the final three spots.
Rohan Browning (100m athletics)
Browning will make history at Tokyo when he becomes the first Australian male to compete in the 100m at the Olympic Games in 17 years, after clocking a qualifier (10.05secs) at the end of March.
Kaylee McKeown (100m/200m backstroke)
Could be the breakout performer for the Dolphins. Improvement in the past 12 months has been phenomenal.
Other winners
Elise Kellond-Knight (women’s football/ACL); Caroline Buchanan (BMX/ coming back from injury), Matt Glaetzer (cycling/cancer), Tiana Mangakahia (basketball/cancer), Bec Cole/Zitina Aokuso (basketball/injury).
IN AND OUT
Artistic swimming
Artistic swimmer Alessandra Ho is set to make her Olympic debut next year after replacing Jane Fruzynski on Australia’s team for Tokyo 2020.
Hannah Burkhill was added to the artistic swimming team in September after Rio 2016 Olympian Amber Rose Stackpole announced her retirement in August.
Chloe Esposito (Modern Pentathalon)
Australia’s reigning Olympic champion in the women’s modern pentathlon was expected to peak in Tokyo until her surprise pregnancy.
With her son Ted, turning one during the rescheduled Games, Esposito said she was eyeing a rescheduled Tokyo with relish.
But time and lack of international competition courtesy of the pandemic has worked against Esposito who will reset for Paris 2024.
LOSERS DUE TO TOKYO OLYMPIC GAMES DELAY
For some, this was meant to be their year – the year when all the hard work culminated in a professional climax.
Until COVID-19 interrupted everything.
While some used different resilience techniques to reset and recalibrate, others let in their grief and let go of the fairytale.
Andrew Bogut (basketball)
It was thought Bogut would suit up for his fourth Olympics and then call time on his professional career.
But in announcing his retirement last year Bogut said: “I can’t physically and mentally get to 2021 with the way my body has been.”
“I could get there with a lot of painkillers and mental anguish but it’s just not worth it.”
Mel Breen (100m)
Australia’s fastest woman Mel Breen was due to line up for her third, and final, Olympics in Tokyo. When the event was postponed, she knew what she had to do: retire, aged 29.
People are asking her why she can’t just hold on for another year.
“Holding on and being elite don’t align,” she replied.
“Every single choice I made was: is this going to help me run fast or not? It takes up so many waking hours.
“I could only work half days, four days a week. Everything else was training, rehab, mobility practice, physio, gym, pilates class.
“So much upkeep is required to continue. You can only run on that wheel for so long. It’s exhausting.”
AIS clinical psychologist Mary Spillane said the delayed Games had increased anxiety in elite athletes, to levels more prevalent than in the general population.
“In 2018, one in three athletes reported mental health incidences,” Spillane said.
“But a survey of 3000 people right before COVID, revealed one in two athletes suffering from anxiety or stress with the postponement of the Games.
“There was a period of athletes feeling hopelessness, lack of motivation and we’ve been working hard on adaptability, resilience and the fact that it’s OK to be feeling anxious.”
Other omissions include:
Ella Nelson – athletics
Stephanie Morton – cycling
Amy Cure – cycling
Angus Moore – rowing
Gabi Nance – hockey
Jodie Kenny – hockey
Karri McMahon – hockey
Paul Gaudoin – hockey (coach)
Dan Smith – swimming
Kevin Chavez – diving
Alicia Quirk – rugby
Jared Tallent – race walking
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