Athletes must stay ready and focused for Games – Asher-Smith

DINA Asher-Smith says she is staying “ready and focused” for the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games to take place this summer.

International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach was recently forced to deny that the Games could be pushed back in the Olympic cycle or even moved to another city. He also rejected suggestions that staging the Games, due to start on July 23, amid the coronavirus pandemic may be seen as irresponsible.

Asked if a contingency needs to be put in place if the Games cannot go ahead as planned, sprinter AsherSmith told BBC Radio 5 Live: “I will leave that to the IOC and the people who have been working extremely hard to prepare this, and are very good at their decision-making skills.

“I could say that (we need a plan B), but I know absolutely nothing about the intricacies of organising an Olympic Games.

“It is very, very easy for those on the outside to be saying what should be done, what can be done, but I don’t know the economics of it, the politics of it, and I don’t know how strategically it is going to work.

“From my perspective, we have to stay ready, stay focused, because this is what we have prepared for.”

SNOOKER: Newport’s Celtic Manor will host the Welsh Open for the first time in February. The event has been moved from Cardiff due to Covid-19 regulations and will be staged behind closed doors.