Athletes on how cancellation after Covid-19 changed their lives
Last week, I had just finished another training session in my garden when I was struck by the significance of the date. It was the day I should have been flying out to Tokyo for the 2020 Olympic Games – I had completely forgotten about it.
I have told myself ever since the Games were postponed that I will not fall into the trap of regretting that I am stuck at home instead of heading off to Japan. Because, this time next year, it is still going to happen. And for the athlete’s mindset it is much better to appreciate what is coming up rather than what might have been.
Besides, for me, the goal has not changed: to become Olympic champion.
Mind you, I have occasionally found myself reminiscing, which is very unlike me. Not about the Games themselves, but about the preparation we go through.
For instance, they have a webcam at the Silvretta Lake in Austria, where we go for our pre-olympic high-altitude training. Alex Gregory sent me a still from it, just showing empty water and I was struck, in a way I was not expecting, that I really missed it. It did something else to me too: I told myself that when I have the chance to go there next year I am really going to cherish every second.
As you near the end of your career, memories, friendships and locations take on a much greater importance – so I am going to bank those memories.
One of the unexpected consequences of training in lockdown is that it has made me appreciate the normal all the more. Do not get me wrong, there has been a lot to commend training in the garden. You can operate to your own timetable, there is no commute, in many ways it is a lot less stressful. But I miss the competitions and I realise it is those things you cherish about being an Olympian.
I remember in my first Olympics in London I was really focused – uber serious. But now there is genuinely not much I remember about the detail.
In Rio, it was very different.
I can remember the daily walks we took in Ipanema, the coffees, the chats and the laughs. I do not know if gold-tinted glasses make your memories clearer than bronzetinted ones, but Rio is so much brighter in my head than London because I made myself appreciate it more. And that made me think about next year.
After the selection for Tokyo was made I realised I was the only returning Olympian in the crew and that the other seven rowers were all first-timers, which is indicative of where British rowing is heading.
SAS, British Rowing’s official analytics partner, has a data project known as Athletes Longitudinal Profiling, which helps the coaches with talent identification. They have data on previous Olympians and can compare it to how young rowers are progressing. It is a step change in development.
For sure, there are areas where we can improve our recruitment, not least diversity, but the future looks bright for rowing. And I think the advice I am going to give the Olympic newbies is to try to put something in the memory bank. When they finally take place, embrace the atmosphere, ride the wave of emotion that surrounds the Games.
In the last four months I have found myself being much more positive, geeing people up.
That is what I am hoping to do over the next year: help make this a time to remember.