'It needed to happen': Athletes adjust to new reality as four-year Games dream crashes down

Champion swimmer Kyle Chalmers lay down for a customary sleep between training sets at his base in Adelaide on Monday. When he arose, the news he suspected had been brewing for weeks was a reality.

"I had a nap, woke up and the Olympics were off for us," Chalmers said. "[But] as much as it sucks, it is what needs to happen."

Chalmers, who surged to an unforgettable 100m freestyle gold as a 17-year-old in Rio four years ago, was among the hundreds of Australian athletes whose carefully laid plans were swiftly truncated after the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) announced it was no longer feasible to send a team to Tokyo in July.

In an email, athletes were told to prepare for an Olympics in 2021 given the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The International Olympic Committee has yet to finalise that timeline but it seems inevitable they will postpone the Games by 12 months.

Chalmers had been on track to try to defend his Olympic crown and keep it out of the hands of new American superstar Caeleb Dressel. Now the goal posts have shifted for everyone, although Chalmers said the certainty of a decision came as a relief amid the training limbo of recent weeks.

"It’s probably something I thought was going to happen. It’s been in the back of my mind since last week when they started to cancel competitions. Then seeing the fallout around the world. I’ve got swimming mates globally so seeing what was happening in their country, it seemed inevitable it would happen to us," Chalmers said.

"I’m in the shape of my life, I’m swimming the best I’ve ever swum. I’ve done stuff at training I never thought would be possible. I was ready for a big year but it is nice, in a way, knowing it’s not happening now … it makes you feel a bit more comfortable so you can reset and focus again."

In Sydney, fellow sprint star Cate Campbell found out the Knox and Pymble pools used by their squad were now off limits. That was only the first dose of bad news for the day.

"I think the most jarring thing is how quickly it’s come on. I was at training this morning (Monday) and we were told to go and rest because we had a major set tonight," Campbell said.

Cate Campbell must now try to reset and aim towards an Olympics in 2021.Credit: AP

"I went home and had a long nap so I would be prepared and then, at 11am, we were told that we don’t have access to any of our available pools. Two hours later the Olympics were not happening for us, we weren’t assembling a team.

"It’s been a very quick transition. You are left reeling a bit. It all moved so quickly towards the end. It’s strange, to have your world twist on its axis. It’s not a surprise by any stretch of the imagination. But to have it confirmed is a lot of news to take in."

Like Chalmers, Campbell was hugely deflated by the news. Olympic athletes train and plan so carefully for a Games that to reset and time your run all over again takes a major mental and physical adjustment.

But she said the distraction had been growing and attempting to close out the seriousness of the pandemic, as was the advice of the IOC when it urged athletes to simply keep their heads down, was becoming impossible.

"There was definitely a big element of distraction there. As much as we were trying to focus, it was the uncertainty. As heartbroken as I am, there is some comfort in having some certainty around that.

"The hardest thing was that I was preparing and felt I was in a really good place to compete. It’s just about recalibrating. It’s a big shift."

Sign up to our Coronavirus Update newsletter

Get our Coronavirus Update newsletter for the day's crucial developments at a glance, the numbers you need to know and what our readers are saying. Sign up to The Sydney Morning Herald's newsletter here and The Age's here.