Life Postponements & the Olympics
Photo by Athit Perawongmetha
The 2020 Summer Olympic Games have been postponed until 2021. We all know this. We can recognize how devastating that must be for the athletes who have trained so hard for the few moments at the top of the world stage. The coronavirus pandemic has changed the course of lives everywhere, and has completely altered some of the most valuable moments one can have. Like many students in the Class of 2020, athletes have similarly looked toward an Olympic dream their entire lives. Moments of personal triumph—whether they be graduating college, starting a new career, getting married, or competing at the Olympic Games—have been put on hold, or even cancelled altogether.
Olympic athletes have been uniquely affected by the pandemic, as the biggest experiences of their lives have become increasingly uncertain. Even a postponement of a few months can change the entire face of the Games, as athletes can struggle with injuries, training issues, and other obstacles that could ultimately leave them off Team USA that they would have otherwise been prepared for this year. Once an athlete is selected to be on the Olympic team, it is unlikely that they will be removed, barring injury or other rare conflicts. With a postponed event, the faces of the team are now in question, as a lack of access training, owing to government-enforced closures, can leave some athletes less prepared next year than they would have been for this year.
As an athlete myself, I always wanted to know what athletes felt about their Olympic moments and their careers up to (and after) such an important period of time. In addition, the postponement of the Olympic Games has hit the athletic community hard, with many implications for fans and the athletes themselves. Other industries, such as fashion and entertainment, have seen closures of retail locations and live events. The athletics industry has similarly suffered from postponed and cancelled events and closing of training facilities.
I spoke with Brooklee Han, an Australian Olympian, to discuss her experiences in order to get an idea of what the Olympics mean to elite athletes, and what some will unfortunately miss out on.
Olympic Athletes and Moments
Team AUS walking in the 2014 opening ceremony, a staple of the Olympics
Photo from The Daily Telegraph
Brooklee Han is an Australian figure skater, having represented her country at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.
She described her Olympic moment in this way: “When you're good, you have this dream of the Olympics as an ideal moment. While it wasn’t this perfect performance, it very much is indicative of who I am as a person, that I’m willing to fight through things... when the going gets done, I will work hard and get things done. While it wasn’t this perfect moment, it is very much who I am as a person.”
Before the Games, Han described the Olympics as, “All this dream, it wasn’t real. I’m just going to keep working and see where I get. If I don’t get there, it’s fine. I’ve had this great adventure. I’ve gotten to see the world.”
Of course, not everything about the life of an Olympian is glamorous. “Post-Olympic depression is really one of the biggest struggles for athletes. There’s so much focus on getting there... no one really talks about what’s next. For a lot of athletes what’s next is ‘I’m competing.’ No one talks about how that dynamic changes after you’ve achieved this goal.”
The Olympics gave opportunity and power to Ms. Han through struggles and accomplishments as an athlete. “This is real. I just did this. It wasn’t like ‘what do I do next?’ I started putting a lot more pressure on myself. I have done this. I can do all these other things for myself.” Brooklee has taken her experiences as an Olympic athlete to other aspects of her life. She has become a published author for International Figure Skating as well as becoming a skating instructor in Dallas. Brooklee, like many other athletes, has used her perseverance and strength to achieve the highest level of athletic accomplishment.
Training and the Olympic Postponement
Similar to how academic studies have been altered during this time, so has the training of elite athletes. As is the case with many students, athletes now must make very difficult decisions about whether they can afford their careers, how they will continue their daily tasks, what their careers and training will look like going forward, and whether it is simply time to call it quits.
I spoke with Sandra Johnson-Shakalov, a fitness trainer for Olympians, world medallists, and other athletes for both summer and winter.
When asked how postponement might affect an athlete’s training regimine and schedule, Johnson-Shakalov claims, “It alters their training because they didn’t hit the pinnacle of their season. So the normal highs and lows have been changed. And I think that that would be a reasonable challenge, but due to the current situation, they can’t just say ‘okay, we can’t just start preseason work.’ It cancels out a segment of the preplanned season. Physically you can make those adjustments, but mentally it’s harder. Because a training cycle is no longer a year, but 24 months.”
Another topic of discussion are age requirements. Athletes below a certain age (which varies among sports) are not permitted to compete at a certain level until they reach the required age. Owing to the postponement, athletes who could not have qualified for the Games this season will now be age eligible. This creates a different type of competition for Olympic hopefuls and qualifiers.
A conversation that must be had in this regard is the matter of retirement. Many athletes train their whole careers to compete at the Games. Many also choose to retire with the Olympics being their last event. This postponement has derailed the closing of chapters for many athletes, because the managing of sport, education, injury, post-athletic careers, and other factors are not always manageable.
“A year changes the age requirements, certain people that were not eligible are eligible. When you hit a training cycle for the Olympics… most people choose after the Olympics to retire and continue on to college. Now those things have to be deferred a year. When you have a delay, even by one year, some athletes (such as Simone Biles) knew that this was going to be their last year. It’s an opportunity for those who are eligible for the age requirement, but a challenge for those who were going to retire,” says Johnson-Shakalov.
Athletes will have to consider their options for the future of their careers, and those who plan to continue competing will adapt their training and lifestyles in order to maintain their athletic standing. Athletes have many things to take into consideration: fitness, health, nutrition, and funds are among some of the concerns of elite athletes. As Johnson-Shakalov points out, “There’s only some sponsorship, there are rules about the prize money you can earn, but competition money is allowed. Some athletes had to postpone surgery, and have to decide whether to go through with surgery and lose the next season.”
There is a lot at stake in the life of an Olympic-level athlete, and with the postponement of Tokyo 2020. Many have postponed their lives outside of the sport in order to achieve their dreams, and now their dreams themselves have been postponed further. Athletes will need to consider the state of their finance and injuries when determining the possibility of holding out another year.
In this uncertain time, not all athletes are equal. There is no international precedent for how to handle the pandemic, nor is there a governing body. Availability of training opportunities and medical care is unbalanced around the world.
Johnson-Shakalov gave interesting insight into this, saying, “With the IOC, they make decisions but when you have Italy, Spain and USA highly impacted and completely closed down, Russia denies virus exists in their country? How do you now compare apples to oranges, when some countries have trained and others have not? Now you have this unevenness. The IOC might determine what they want, but now countries are no longer regulated.”
Simone Biles Training from her home
From Simone’s Instagram: @simonebiles
In addition, different sports have different training needs. Sports like Javelin Throw or Synchronized Swimming require more specific and limited equipment and training space than sports like boxing or hurdles. All athletes, regardless of their sport, will have to consider what changes must be made to their daily lives in order to maintain everything they have invested themselves into for so many years.
There is a piece of hope. This is an opportunity for federations, teams, coaches, and athletes to be creative and collaborate. Coming back from this major setback will not be easy, nor will it be without extreme hardship. Sandra ended our conversation with some words of encouragement. “One of the things to look forward to - creativity and collaboration of federations. Some will not be able to function the way they were originally intended. There’s going to be some amazing things that come out of this.”
We have all been affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Our lives, plans, and projects have all been interrupted or ended all together. Students have had to switch to online learning. Businesses have been forced to close, temporarily or even permanently. Our lives are not unlike these athletes, and our losses are their losses. Olympians are struggling just as we are. But just like these athletes, we can all reflect on what we have done until now and decide what it is we really want to do when our own postponements are over.