Tokyo homework in time of corona
Indian athletes, those who have qualified for the 2020 Games, and those looking to make it are facing uncertainty
NEW DELHI/MUMBAI/CHANDIGARH/LUCKNOW: The modern Olympics, since it began in 1896, has remained such a huge symbol of global camaraderie that only the two World Wars forced their cancellation (in 1916, 1940 and 1944). Even the tit-for-tat boycotts could not really dim the lustre of the 1980 Moscow and 1984 Los Angeles editions.
For Indian athletes, Olympic medals used to be a bridge too far. They have raised their standard over the last decade to ditch the unwanted ‘one-medal nation’ tag starting 2008 Beijing, qualifying in numbers to begin the steep climb to the podium. However, the Tokyo Games is in serious danger of being scrapped as the novel coronavirus continues to cause havoc around the world.
It has left Indian athletes, those who have qualified like the shooters, boxers and wrestlers and the others who are looking to earn spots, an uncertain lot. With the pandemic causing havoc with the global sports calendar, most don’t know how they can qualify, or stay in peak form till the July 24 to August 9 Games begin. That is if the mega event is not called off in the first place.
Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra was hands down medal contender till the former U-20 world champion suffered a serious elbow injury. Having comeback and achieved qualification (85m) with a throw of 87.86m in a South Africa meet last month, Chopra is training in Turkey, which has not been affected much. But taking part in competitions to build up for Tokyo could be tougher.
“I am taking precautions. I’m not going outside, just do my training and stay indoors as much as possible,” he said on Sunday. “Next month, I’m scheduled to take part in Federation Cup in India, and then compete in the Diamond League in April and some other meets in Europe. I’ve not heard of cancellations but everything is so doubtful right now. I’m not able to plan anything.
“It’s important to get competitions because I am coming back from injury.”
The Diamond League season starts in Doha on April 17, after the Federation Cup in Patiala from April 10-13. The Athletics Federation of India has withdrawn invitation to five countries due to COVID-19, but it will stay as an Olympic qualifying event.
Marathon man Thonakal Gopi though is feeling desperate. Having finished a creditable 24th in the 2016 Rio Games— his best is 2 hrs 13 min, set in the 2019 Seoul marathon—his hopes of achieving the qualifying time of 2:11.30 by the May 31 deadline is fading as one major event after another is being cancelled.
“I missed the Tokyo marathon this month as my entry wasn’t sent by AFI. Then I targetted the Seoul race but it was cancelled,” he said. “It was cold but overall good weather to push hard (in Seoul last year). I could have done better this time, but missed,” the Army runner said. The hot weather in India will not help post a fast time while switching to the track, and chase 5,000m or 10,000m qualification, is not possible as the training regimen needs to change.
“The only way I can live my Tokyo dreams is if the Olympics are postponed.”
Middle-distance ace Jinson Johnson’s plans to qualify, after narrowly failing to in 1,500m last year, are on hold as the European circuit in May-June is not certain. One of the best middle-distance runners India has produced, he holds the 800m (1:45.65 sec) and 1500m (3:35.24 sec) national records, but has a mountain to climb. “At the moment it looks doubtful whether I would get another chance to run a good race in Europe because events are being cancelled at the drop of a hat.”
Not all athletes can expect a smooth build-up to the Olympics. Johnson suffered an Achilles injury and returned from his training base in Colorado Springs, US. After a month’s rehab, he moved to Bengaluru to re-build, only for the virus to strike.
The suspension of the ATP and ITF Tours for six weeks has disrupted Indian tennis players’ Olympic plans. The closest to qualification is the doubles pair of Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan, the 2018 Asian Games champions.
Expected to pair up again in Tokyo, they have been playing with different partners on the Tour to boost individual rankings before the cut-off date to qualify, June 8. The top 10 players and one from the host nation qualify directly, while a combined ranking is taken into account to fill the rest of the 32-team field.
Bopanna, world No. 37, and Sharan, 56, had hoped to use the next two months to play and boost combined ranking. “Rohan and I had planned to play three tournaments together before the Olympics, and some of them fall in this sixweek period. Everything is up in the air. We are in constant touch. Hopefully, it’s not a longer break,” Sharan said.
The scenario is the same for mixed doubles where Bopanna could partner Sania Mirza.
India’s biggest hopes lie in shooting and boxing, where a record 15 and nine respectively have qualified. But everyone involved is fretting over keeping the athletes in prime form entering the Games.
Indian boxers (five men, four women) qualified from the world championships after the Asian qualifier in virus epicentre Wuhan last month was called off. Boxers will get another chance to qualify in the remaining four divisions at the world qualification event in Paris (May 13-24), provided it is held.
A training stint at the high altitude Colorado Springs this month was called off. India had planned to invite boxers from eight-nine countries in June to train, but that looks unlikely.
High Performance Director Santiago Nieva said: “It is difficult to say anything concrete now but we are looking at options. The only positive thing is nine boxers have qualified.”
Mansher Singh, shooting chief national coach for shotgun events said it would be tough to keep shooters in top form.
“Things like these (postponement/ cancellation of World Cups in Cyprus and Delhi) impact shooting a lot because you plan for the entire calendar year. There are only 2-3 World Cups before the Olympics, so everyone bases his/her training and competition around them in such a way that they can attain an optimum level and peak at the Olympics. The World Cups are basically tournaments to establish your build-up to the Olympics,” he said.
“We’ve (shotgun squad) had a very, very long camp. Since our World Cup at Cyprus was cancelled, we’ve had a series of camps non-stop, which concluded yesterday (Sat). Tomorrow (Monday) onwards, we’ll be having selection trials. These will be a sort of placement trials for the shooters who did not get to compete in the World Cups in Cyprus and Delhi. The first trial would be counted as an ‘Olympic qualifying recognised score’ and the second would qualify as the ‘Olympic team selection trial’.”
Shooters find their own way to stay competition-ready. “There is a move by some of our top shotgun shooters… they are having a league in between the camp every two-three weeks where they can have a comparative experience throughout this lean phase where they are neither able to travel for training or to competitive destinations abroad. It’s important you keep competing because training by yourself is not sufficient.”
Deepak Punia, the 2019 world championships silver medallist and Olympic quota winner in 86 kg, is also grappling with the restrictions placed in his training base at home—Delhi’s Chhatrasal Stadium. The venue has been closed down on the directive of the Delhi government on the coronavirus. Juniors, who serve as sparring partners, are also barred entry and only the elite wrestlers are allowed into the venue.
“I will be joining the national camp in Sonepat from Monday,” he said. “We’ve guidelines form the federation on maintaining strict hygiene. Wrestling is a close contact sport and there is no way we can avoid (contact with other wrestlers) if we train in full flow. With the Olympics so close, we can’t let the intensity go down.
Top wrestlers like Bajrang PUnia will also join the camp on Monday. “I’m not sure about the exposure trips… amp. So far, the training has been on in full flow.
American Andrew Cook, the women’s national coach based in Lucknow, is anxious about his wards as well as his family in the US. “It is not the feeling of being stranded but I definitely feel uneasy.”
It is understandable. His wife, a nurse in the US, dealt with two coronavirus positive patients.
“Over 40 have died within a 30km radius of my old parents—aged 76 and 81,” he added.
“There is no chance for me to return for any emergencies, so I’m stranded. Nobody can come here either,” he said. However, Cook is looking forward to the Asian qualifying championships. “We are looking for five slots at the Olympics through qualifying in categories 50, 57, 62, 68, 76,” he added.
Divya Kakran, 2018 Asian Games and Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, though is not sure when the qualifiers (due in China from March 27) will be held. “I’m happy I have enough time to prepare and I’m putting my best efforts in training.
“We aren’t allowed to go outside the SAI centre, and outsiders are not coming into the campus. Even at practice, we are cautious not to meet everyone on the mat. We’re taking all precautionary measures to stop the spread of the virus.”
India’s top table tennis player, G Sathiyan, is in a position to qualify in the individual events with the seasoned Achanta Sharath Kamal because of their rankings. They have to at least reach the semis if the Asian qualifiers are held in May. Sathiyan is ranked 31 and Sharath 38. Manika Batra, the top Indian women, is ranked 62. As 16 mixed doubles pairs will qualify, they will have to reach the finals at the Asian qualifying tournament to seal a berth. “You can’t plan anything. Olympics itself is in danger. I’m expecting that there will be a lot of clustered tournaments put together once the situation gets better. They (world table tennis body, ITTF) will want to put all the tournaments before the Olympics, so I have to be ready for that.
We have been in constant talks with ITTF. They are saying ‘all we can do is take it day by day, see how the situation is evolving and then take decisions’. Hopefully, we will get a fair idea by April.
Sharath Kamal added: “As of now the Asian and the European qualification events have been postponed beyond April into May; until end of April there are no events happening. There has been a set of rules for Olympic qualifiers but I don’t know if there would be any change in rules or if ITTF will continue to have same rules. It does affect us mentally as we don’t know (what will happen). We’ve been planning for these events for long time, (but) we are a bit sceptical.
Amit Panghal, India’s best medal bet in boxing, and his team mates have been asked to avoid crowds and stay at home when away from camps, as the first step.
The 2019 World Boxing silver medallist in 52kg earned the Olympics quota at the Asian qualifiers in Jordan recently.
“There has been break of two weeks and we will be told about the next course of action regarding the camps and training programme. So, right now I can’t tell you by when we will have our next national camp or where we will be travelling to train for the Olympics. As far as training is concerned, I will be following the fitness programme here in my village,” the Haryana boxer said.
“There won’t be any issue regarding peaking for the games.”
Indian rowers at a training camp at the Army Rowing Node in Pune are worried and unsure of their qualification chances after FISA, the world rowing body on Saturday night cancelled the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta, which also incorporated the Asia and Oceania Olympic Qualification Regatta, scheduled to be held at Lucerne, Switzerland, from May 17-19.
“The final qualification event, scheduled for 17 to 19 May 2020, is cancelled and will not be postponed or relocated,” FISA informed in a statement on Saturday.
FISA also cancelled all Continental Olympic Qualification Regattas to be held in April and May and will now be working out in consultation with International Olympic Committee a new system to fill the qualification berths to Tokyo.
The entire qualification programme for Tokyo Olympics has been in disarray because of the coronavirus outbreak and the campers, who have stationed at Pune for the last couple of months first preparing for the Asia and Oceania Olympic Qualification Regatta, which was scheduled at Chungju in South Korea was cancelled on March 5 and the programme shifted to Switzerland.
“As qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games using the above planned regattas is no longer possible, FISA is now in close contact with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) in order to finalise proposals regarding the changes to the respective qualification systems,” the FISA statement said.
Five rowers, two support staff and an attendant for para rowers were to take part in the Olympic qualification regatta.
“The camp will continue as it was scheduled till March end. We are waiting for a decision from the federation regarding the camp. As the Olympics have not been cancelled, we will have to continue with our preparations in the hope that our rowers will get a chance to participate,” chief national coach Ismail Baig told Hindustan Times on Sunday.
Baig said they will be eagerly waiting for the new qualification system that FISA is going to announce in couple of days. “We are not sure how they will go about allocating Olympic berths -- for Asia whether they will take the Asian Games results as the criteria or decide on something else. So there is no other option but to wait for the decision and go on with our preparations.”