Dacres staying focused despite Diamond League suspension
With the start of the outdoor athletics season halted due to the coronavirus pandemic, World Championship, silver medallist discus thrower Fedrick Dacres believes that local athletes will do whatever it takes to keep themselves focused on their craft.
World Athletics announced yesterday the postponement of the first three Diamond League events of the new season, which consist of the opener in Qatar scheduled for April and both meets in China slated for May 9 and 16. Jamaica has increased restrictions on public gatherings during the next 14 days as a means of combating the virus, which saw confirmed cases starting last week.
With the local restrictions in place, Dacres says that it will hamper the individual work they would be able to do themselves to keep them on the path towards the Olympics this summer.
“It will be a lot harder for us because the gyms are closed and all of that. So we are not working out as much as we would want. We just have to use what we got,” Dacres told STAR Sports. “That’s the most we can do.”
LINGERING DOUBTS
While there are lingering doubts as to whether the event can or should be held, Dacres is hopeful that the games can still go on as scheduled although he is concerned about the backlog that the suspension has now created for the athletes.
“It has affected us because we won’t to be able to compete with the Europeans or Americans as much as we would want because of the situation and trying to limit the amount of contact we would have,” Dacres told STAR Sports. “But they are in the situation [as we are].”
In a press release, World Athletics said that due to the travel restrictions imposed by Qatar and despite the decreasing number of infections in China, it was impossible for the meets to take place. “The fact remains that preparations for the meets have been set back by several weeks and the closed borders, travel restrictions, and the need to prioritise athlete safety make it impossible to organise international toplevel competitions,” the statement read.
The Diamond League is the latest event that has required suspension as the virus has effectively caused the sporting world to grind to
a halt.