Postponing the Tokyo Olympics by a full year has thrown a huge wrench in the lives of Canada’s elite athletes in ways that transcend their sports careers, according to a former Olympic champion.
Postponing the Tokyo Olympics by a full year has thrown a huge wrench in the lives of Canada’s elite athletes in ways that transcend their sports careers, according to a former Olympic champion.
“To suddenly say, ‘one more year,’ sucks all of the oxygen out of the room … because all of a sudden, the plans they had were garbage,” said Marnie McBean, a three-time Olympic gold medallist in rowing and Canada’s chef de mission for the Tokyo Games.
For champion-calibre athletes, an event as major as the Olympics is more than just a date on a calendar. They’ve been training their bodies and minds to prepare, often for years in advance.
“If you’re racing every week for the year, you kind of know how it’s going to go. You know how everyone else is doing. You know how you’re doing. You have a good gauge, right? Right now, they are shooting darts in the dark,” she explained.
What’s more, when competitors’ careers are pegged to the games’ four-year cycle, the rest of their life plans tend to revolve around them.
WATCH | ‘We’re still going to have a Tokyo Olympics,’ says Canada’s chef de mission:
Marnie McBean, Canada’s chef de mission, believes the Tokyo Olympics will go ahead with Canadian athletes, just not this summer. 9:07
“Some athletes will have a plan like: You know what? I’m going to go to the Olympics. And then my partner and I are going to have a kid,” said McBean.
Summer games athletes hoping to go back to school in the fall might also be compelled to put their post-spor