Relief for P.E.I. athletes as COVID-19 delays 2020 Tokyo Olympics

After years of preparation,athletes around the worldarecomingto grips with the announcement that the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games will be delayed by a year.

The announcement comes as a relief for many Canadian athletesafter the country's Olympic and Paralympic committeesannouncedthey wouldn'tbe sending athletes to compete at the Tokyo Games originally set to begin July 24 if they proceeded as scheduled.

"I'm so glad IOC decided to do that," saidAmy Kneebone Burk, a three-time Paralympian on Canada's goalball team, after the decision was made Tuesday morning.

"Not only was it going to be tough for Canadian athletes if theOlympics didgo ahead,I think just forthe health and well-being of everyone around the world, this was just by far the best decision IOC has made."

The postponementendsweeks of speculation that the games would not go ahead as scheduled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

CBC'sIsland Morning spoke toKneebone Burk andOlympic wrestling hopefulLigrit Sadikuon Tuesday, just hours before Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced the delay ofthe games.

Sadiku is from Summerside and Kneebone Burk is from Charlottetown and now lives in Ottawa.

"It was a bit of a pill to swallow, but I mean I totally support the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic committee for their decision," said Kneebone Burk.

Her team had officially qualified andwould have been announced in May after the Canadian Championships, which have also been postponed due to the pandemic.

Pushing the IOC

Sadiku had also previously qualified for Team Canada, but still had to place in the top two at a qualifying tournament, also postponed because ofCOVID-19.

"I am proud to stand with a country that stood up to the IOC and gave that decision to not send athletes and maybe pushed the IOC to make the decision," he said.

"It allows athletes like myself who are currently in the process of qualifying for the Olympicspeace of mind, to not worry about training during these circumstances and focus on managing the transmission of the virus in our communities.

"It's quite a shocking time in history, in my opinion, but it's got to be done."

In their message to the IOC, both Canada's Olympic and Paralympic committees called for the Tokyo Games to be pushed by a full year to 2021.

"It's very hard to train in these circumstances," said Sadiku, who ispreparing for his first Olympics.

"Especially in my sport, which involves a lot of contact. We can't get a team together and wrestle. We have to kind of train our own."

Sadiku mayhave also had the opportunity to wrestle for Kosovo if the Olympics had proceeded without Canadian representation, but he saidhe thoughthe'dstick with Canada in whatever they decided.

"Canada made a very smart move and I don't think the IOC wants to lose such a huge country that's going to be participating," said Kneebone Burk.

"We were the first people that stepped up."

The Japanese prime ministersaid he has agreement fromIOC president Thomas Bach about postponing the games.

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