From Covid heroes to Olympic stars
Several athletes competing in Tokyo were at the forefront of the battle against the world’s long fight against the Covid-19 pandemic back home. They served as doctors, nurses and ambulance drivers, helping and comforting people all the while training on the side. A look at some of these heroes.
When she’s not saving goals, Australian women’s team hockey goalkeeper Rachael Lynch doubles up a nurse in her hometown of Perth. The 35-year-old has spent the last year being a part of nurses deployed in western Australia with a mining company, whose staff need regular testing. “I honestly feel like it makes me a better athlete, having that time away and doing things to help other people that aren’t about me,” she told Time magazine. “It’s important for me to take every opportunity I can to give back – especially during these challenging times.”
Iranian shooter Javad Foroughi spent his nights caring for gravely ill patients as he served as a nurse in Covid wards before the Games. Now he is an Olympic champion. On Saturday, Foroughi earned gold in the men’s 10m air pistol, also setting a world record in the process. In the year in the run up to the Olympics, the nurse contracted
Covid-19 twice, but never let it stop his training. He tested positive the first time in 2020, where he contracted the infection on the job. But as soon as he could, he resumed training. “During preparations my test was positive again. I left training for more than one month and then again started training for the Olympics," he said.
Australian kayaker Jo Brigden-jones is not ne to Olympics – she represented Australia in 2012, and her team narrowly missed out o qualification for Rio. However, kayaking, she says, is not her main career – she ha been working as a paramedic for New
South Wales Ambulance since 2016. “Sometimes I would do three training sessions and then go to do my night shift,” the 33-year-old told Time magazine. She says working as a paramedic helps takes some of the pressure off during competitions. ina’s Paula Pareto, a two-time Olympic medallist (gold in Rio 2016 and silver in Beijing 2008), was e front line of the battle against Covid in her try. Nicknamed ‘La e’ or ‘The small one’, works as a trauma tor when not training. st of 2020 and 2021, as engaged almost ime on Covid duty.
raining for Tokyo the w weeks, she has ed with her shifts at pital.
On the face of it, Gabby Thomas is a student weeks away from completi her master’s degree in epidemiolog at the University of Texas. A part o
Team USA at the Tokyo Games, she has also been dubbed by the medi the “world’s fastest epidemiologist . sights are on a much bigger label – s e to become the world’s fastest woman... and she’s almost there. During Olympic trials, sh clocked the second-fastest women’s 200m sprint time ever recorded at 21.61 seconds.