'We’ve got a new plan': coronavirus shifts the finish line for Australia's Olympic athletes
It was the most exciting day of Lucas Plapp’s life. He was only 19, but when his coach Tim Decker called to say he’d been selected for the Australian Olympic team, it was the fulfilment of a childhood dream.
It was 18 March. Plapp was a long shot to make the five-man team for the endurance track event at the Tokyo Olympics, but his performance at the world championships a few weeks before pushed him into contention. “It was my goal and what I wanted to achieve,” he says. “I don’t know if others thought it was possible.”
Everything happened quickly. Cycling Australia’s communications manager Amy McCann called to let him know there would be a cheesy media event in Adelaide, with the team dressed in kimonos. The event was cancelled because the coronavirus threat made it too risky.
A few days later, the Australian Olympic Committee decided that athletes would not compete in the July Games due to the pandemic. Plapp and his teammates reeled because at that stage, the Games were still officially going ahead and the thought of missing them was unthinkable. On 24 March, barely a week after Plapp’s selection, the Olympics were postponed until next year.
Plapp admits he didn’t see the bigger picture at the time. “We were in such a bubble we didn’t realise how big [coronavirus] was,” he says. “We were so driven and committed to the Games. In our heads, that was a date that we’d looked forward to for so long that it was like, nothing can stop this happening.
“You’re getting so hyped and it’s so close to happening and you’re about to start your final preparations and now it’s 16 months [away] and you almost restart your whole process again.”
Plapp is the youngest member of a team that includes the more seasoned riders Kelland O’Brien, Alexander Porter, Samuel Welsford and Leigh Howard. Tokyo will be his first Olympics.
Cycling is based in Adelaide and Plapp has lived and trained there since he was 17. He played cricket and football as a child, but became fascinated with the Olympics, staying up late to watch Australians compete at the Beijing Games in 2008. He looked for an Olympic sport, took up cycling, and decided to dedicate himself to it after he had success in the under-19s world championships.
“The reason I love the sport so much is whoever trains the hardest usually wins.”
When the Games were postponed, coach Decker told the team to take two weeks off if they wanted, just to absorb the decision. “Given the shock and the emotion that the athletes were going through, it was trying to get them to put that aside and really think about their passion as to why they ride their bikes,” Decker says.
Plapp has remained in isolation at his parents’ home in Melbourne. Cycling Australia dismantled its gym, shipping pieces to athletes so they could continue to train. Plapp set up a gym in the lounge room.
Such circumstances pose psychological and practical challenges for athletes. Plapp’s event is the team pursuit, part of the track endurance program. A team of four speed around 16 laps of the velodrome, or 4km in all.
Training is intense and designed to ensure that athletes peak at the right time. As Plapp explains it, the early focus is on long rides to reach peak fitness – 500-600km a week. In the few months before the Games, the focus moves to track work with an emphasis on speed. Tokyo was so close that the team was about to enter the final stages of training, but now it’s back to long rides.
“It’s quite weird to restart the whole thing,” says Plapp, “knowing how hard that training block was, to have to put your body through that again.”
A few weeks ago, Plapp was out riding in Melbourne when he hit a pothole and broke his collarbone, which meant rest and limited training. The team’s nutritionist, Jill Leckey, was the first to message him after the accident. “For her, you cannot have enough protein,” he says. “She express-posted a massive 5kg box of nutrition to me and said: make sure you finish all of this.”
Since the Adelaide hub closed, the team has taken advantage of technology. Online training means the team can ride together virtually. There’s even a program that allows anyone in the world to join Olympic cyclists on a ride.
“That’s been really cool,” says Plapp. “[The technology has] been available before, but we’ve really made the most of it now.”
Plapp has been meeting up with his mentor, former champion swimmer Libby Trickett, on Zoom. The mentorship was part of a Sport Australia Hall of Fame scholarship Plapp was awarded last year. “She’s been really helpful with the Olympics being postponed and also preparing and training for the Games.”
He is heading back to Adelaide next week. The sling on his arm is gone, and he’ll be ready for full training in a couple of weeks. The Adelaide Super-Drome has not yet re-opened, but modified training has started, subject to government restrictions. Training times will be staggered, and there’ll be fewer teams on the track at once.
“We’ve got a new plan,” Plapp says. “We’re going to start everything over, and we’re really motivated again.”
Postcards from the pandemic looks at how everyday Australians are coping with immense changes coronavirus has brought to their lives. We’d like to hear your story about how you are managing during this crisis. Email: postcards@theguardian.com