Olympics: Uncertainty is certain
Print Edition
One thing remains certain in the shadow of uncertainty cast by the COVID-19 pandemic: the determination of Chinese athletes to compete at their best in the Tokyo Olympic Games.
As China鈥檚 national two sessions are held in Beijing, Olympic shooting champion Du Li, a member of the Chinese People鈥檚 Political Consultative Conference, asked for leave because she is leading the training of the national shooting team in Putian in southeast China鈥檚 Fujian Province.
鈥淒ue to the outbreak of COVID-19, many international competitions were canceled. And we have been training behind closed doors since last year,鈥 Du said.
When the outbreak started last year, Chinese athletes were still active in the Olympic qualifiers and related tournaments. As Chinese athletes鈥 bid for the coming summer Olympics might be influenced by possible entry restrictions of relevant countries and regions, some Chinese athletes chose to go abroad before the related competitions and to train outside China.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics, postponed to July, will award medals across 339 events in 33 different sports. According to China鈥檚 State General Administration of Sport, by the end of last year, Chinese athletes have qualified in 155 events across 20 sports such as archery, equestrian, diving, women鈥檚 basketball, women鈥檚 volleyball, and table tennis.
4-month countdown
Impacted by the pandemic, Olympic qualifying events in 25 sports, including fencing, judo, track and field, swimming, and gymnastics, have not concluded yet. This means that athletes involved in these events have to prepare for the scoring and qualifying competitions first to gain the Olympic qualifications instead of having themselves fully trained for the Games.
With only four months to go before the opening of the Tokyo Olympics, athletes can only face these challenges by training behind closed doors. 鈥淭he main problem is that we don鈥檛 have formal events. It is quite troublesome. Without competitions, athletes find it hard to adjust their form in training,鈥 Du said.
鈥淔or more than one year, some young shooters only participated in several national trials, which cannot be put on a par with international competitions such as the World Cup and the Olympic Games. Despite the athletes鈥 results in training, there is still much uncertainty going into events.鈥
Not only shooters but other athletes were also plagued by the lack of formal events.
Chinese taekwondo athletes experienced a painful 10 months without competition last year.
鈥淭hese 10 months were not only disastrous for athletes but also very tough for the national team鈥檚 preparation for Olympics,鈥 said Guan Jianmin, Chinese Taekwondo and Karate Association president and a CPPCC member.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
