Skinner has real fears for athletes after Tokyo call-off

CALLUM SKINNER reckons he might have ‘cracked’ had the Rio Games been delayed — denying him his chance of becoming an Olympic champion. The 27-year-old Scot won gold and silver medals as part of the British cycling team in 2016 before retiring last year. Skinner, who also collected a Commonwealth bronze in 2018, thinks the decision to postpone this year’s Tokyo Games until next summer will hit many athletes hard. And he suspects it might have caused him to quit rather than keep going for an extra year. ‘The decision to postpone the Olympics until 2021 presents a huge array of challenges for athletes,’ he said. ‘If someone had said to me ahead of Rio they were going to extend the preparations for a year then that could have cracked me. ‘Your level of devotion and drive is so heightened at that point that you start sacrificing anything else not to do with your sport. You stop seeing family and friends. ‘Your only focus is on getting that gold. So to have that stretched out for another year feels like quite a big issue for so many people. ‘It’s going to be hard for athletes to keep up that intensity of training for what is going to be a five-year cycle rather than a four-year one.’ Skinner, now a spokesman for pressure group Global Athlete, worries many sportsmen and women might be struggling during lockdown but are afraid to speak out. ‘From a physical side, athletes aren’t getting any physio or scans due to the pressures the NHS is under,’ he said. ‘And, from a mental perspective, I can imagine it will be causing a lot of them extra stress to be devoid of their usual support network and team-mates at this time. ‘There’s also the problem where, because of these terrible circumstances and the tragic death toll, athletes feel they can’t speak out because it might seem inappropriate. Even if they are losing their jobs or going through health issues. ‘Something that was key in my recovery from my mental health struggles was knowing that, just because someone is having it worse, it doesn’t make your problem invalid. ‘So it’s still important to seek help and get support. ‘There’s also still the chance the Games might not happen at all, so there’s a lot riding on the next year in all contexts.’