Tokyo delay opens up chance to fulfil my Olympic dream

THERE were mixed feelings in our household about the Olympics being moved but I’m excited to have an extra year to try to qualify for Tokyo. The International Olympic Committee and Japanese organisers made the right decision to postpone the Games and thankfully we have a new date. I was relieved and excited to hear the news the Olympics will now be next year.

While it is upsetting for people who have qualified already – like my boyfriend – it opens the door for me to try and make the team, giving me more time to train, having returned from a finger injury, and try to qualify.

The call to postpone it was inevitable. It would have been irresponsible to have held the Games this summer, for health reasons firstly. I would have been really upset if we were coming out of the worst of coronavirus at that point, only for the biggest sporting event on the planet to set off a second wave.

It also would have been really unfair on the athletes, with some countries in lockdown and training looking very different depending on where you are.

I want to go to a major championships and feel all my competitors are there in the best shape they can be, otherwise it would feel hollow for me.

My boyfriend Jan Hojer, who climbs for Germany, has already qualified and when we heard the news Tokyo was to be postponed, there was a worry over whether he will keep his place for 2021. We hope we can both be there.

I’m now living with Jan in Cologne, where we are in lockdown, although it is not as tough as in the UK. We’re allowed out three times a day but only go out to exercise in quiet outdoor spaces or for one of us to go to the shop.

I had to make a quick decision on what to do and two weeks ago I left for Germany. One of my housemates in Sheffield works at a hospital and is deemed high-risk, so I decided I would go to Cologne to be with Jan.

Climbing walls were closing in the UK as I left and they are closed here too. It’s a strange time as I have climbed in some form every day for the last 15 years and now I’m not doing it – it took me back to how I felt when I was injured.

I can’t do loads at home in terms of training, just finger-boarding, yoga, cardio and leg work in the park.

The most difficult thing to cope with is the uncertainty – how long will we be at home for, and how long until climbing walls reopen? When will life return to normal? It is unlikely to be for quite some time and when we come out of this, we will have a new normal.

Routine is important for an athlete and I have mine on ‘lockdown’. I speak to my grandma back in the UK every day and she reads to me from her old travel diaries she has found. She travelled around the world a few times and we keep each other company for an hour each day on the phone or on FaceTime.

I’m trying new things to pass the time too. I’ve started knitting and also baking sourdough bread and protein brownies.

I miss home but I thought it best to be here. Jan and I are hoping to go rockclimbing soon to get back into the swing of things so we’re prepared for when we can climb competitively again.

These are strange times but after my injury problems last year, I felt I had lost the chance to reach Tokyo. The new date has kept my dream alive.

I want my competitors to be in the best shape, otherwise it would be hollow for me

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Molly Thompson-Smith is an ambassador for PhD Nutrition www.phd.com/ #PerformSmart