Olympic Training During the Pandemic
The COVID-19 shutdown forced many athletes to get creative with their training routines to keep their Olympic dreams alive.
There isn’t a segment of the world that hasn’t been touched by the coronavirus pandemic. It has certainly brought its share of challenges, even to the strongest of people.
When the shutdown first began over a year ago, we heard a lot about high school and college spring sports being canceled. In the case of high school seniors, they wouldn’t get a second chance to repeat a season like college athletes did.
Not long after that, it was announced the 2020 Tokyo Olympics would be postponed to the following year.
It was difficult enough for a player in a sport like baseball, football or basketball to adjust to the virtual lifestyle forced on them. They could at least engage with their teammates on Zoom and stay physically fit if they ran, did sport-specific exercises or lifted weights at home.
But what about athletes training for the Olympics? Until recently, it didn’t dawn on me that they faced some unique challenges training for certain sports like swimming or gymnastics. Unless you had an Olympic-sized pool or a pommel horse in your backyard, keeping your skills sharp in those disciplines took a bit of creativity.
I’ve talked to several Olympic hopefuls over the past few months, and have read about others who shared their experiences of how they continued to train despite the pandemic. Not surprisingly, they refused to allow postponements and restrictions to keep them from chasing their dreams.
Backyards and Lake Houses
Asher Hong, a 17-year-old Level 10 gymnast, spent part of the layoff training on a mini pommel horse his parents bought. He also worked on rings to improve his elbow strength.
Two-time Paralympic swimmer Evan Austin went to stay at a friend’s lake house last summer. This allowed him to work on open water swimming in the lake.
Austin discussed the experience at a recent U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee virtual media summit I attended in April.
“(My friend) had a little paddle boat, and he would just kind of go next to me and make sure I wasn’t going to be run over by any boats,” Austin explained.
Another swimmer, MacKenzie Coan of Georgia, talked her parents into buying an eight-foot tethered swimming pool to put in their garage. Coan trained in it for five months during the pandemic.
“It was a good time,” Coan said. “I had music blasting. Every day, I would have to sweep the water out of the garage so it didn’t ruin the floor. But training at home in the garage was a really unique and kind of fun experience.”
Karate will be making its debut as an Olympic sport in the Tokyo Games. For Tom Scott, a 10-year veteran of Team USA, close contact is an essential part of the sparring discipline. Scott, a native of the Dallas, Texas area, was fortunate enough to continue training in the gym. But it wasn’t easy, especially having to wear masks the entire time.
“It was horrible,” Scott told reporters at the virtual media summit. “We’re breathing heavy and wearing a mask and training, and that was really difficult. We would wipe down our equipment before every drill with wipes, disinfectant wipes, and in between drills going over and hand sanitizing. But we created an interesting environment and actually held some of the only camps in the country and across the world.”
Taking An Emotional Toll
Challenges weren’t limited to physical training. The long layoff from competition and uncertainty took a mental toll as well. Sean McCann, a senior sports psychologist for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, told NPR he’s never seen athletes face this type of stress. Many have had meltdowns and moments of severe anxiety from canceled competitions and other pandemic-related hurdles.
“It really heightens the extra stress that athletes always feel during the Olympic year,” explained McCann, who has counseled athletes for 30 years. “Especially, like, January to March is really a time where most summer sport athletes are like, ‘I hope all this work is going to pan out’.”
But others actually welcomed the break. When I interviewed Asher Hong several months ago for a story on FloGymnastics.com, he told me the layoff may have made him a better athlete.
“When I came back, I felt stronger, faster, more agile, everything was better,” Asher said. “I just had to get back in shape.”
The Conditioning Conundrum
That leads to another important point: getting back in shape. When athletes are out for extended periods, they tend to rush back to full speed. Olympians learn to build a training process gradually, hoping to reach their peak right before the Games.
According to a 2014 study examining gold medalists before competition, the odds of winning can increase dramatically when peak performance is reached at the right time. Many athletes were almost to achieving that when the shutdown occurred. They have had to readjust their training regimen without putting their bodies at risk.
In a blog post written by trainers at Bon Secours Sports Performance, athletes should prepare mentally for the long haul. It can take as long as four to six weeks to get back to full strength. Attempts to speed up that process could put athletes at a higher risk of injury.
The Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games are just around the corner. Some will reach the winner’s circle, while others will go home disappointed. But if the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s to cherish those special moments, count our blessings, and live each day to the fullest. I’d be willing to bet every athlete would agree, regardless of how they finish.
Hot Takes and Great Reads
There will be plenty of names to keep an eye on at the Tokyo Games. One in particular is Erriyon Knighton. The 17-year-old Florida native broke two of Usain Bolt’s youth records in the 200-meter, and is one of the youngest athletes on Team USA this year.
Knighton qualified for Tokyo at last week’s Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon. Not bad for a guy who didn’t even start competing in track and field until his freshman year of high school.
Read more about him in this USA Today article.
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Peyton Manning is a Hall of Fame quarterback who won five MVP awards and who will always be in the conversation for one of the greatest to ever play the game. So wouldn’t you be honored if he coached your kid’s team?
Not everyone, apparently. Manning coaches his son’s flag football team and helps with his daughter’s softball team. In a recent appearance on the Kelly Clarkson show, he said some parents were reluctant to have him as a coach because of a 2007 Saturday Night Live skit depicting him hitting kids with footballs.
“I think parents are like, ‘Are we sure we want our kid to play on your team?'” Manning told Clarkson. “Like, it was Saturday Night Live! It was a spoof skit. Relax. I’m not gonna do that to your kid. Probably not.”
Probably not? He better not!
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Professional and college sports teams aren’t the only ones being pressured to drop Native American and other sensitive mascot names. This story on Native News Online points out that a number of adaptive sports organizations and schools are being insensitive by continuing to use such names for its teams.
Now that teams like the Washington Redskins are finally coming around, it might be a good idea for schools like the Alabama School for the Blind Redskins and Oklahoma School for the Deaf Indians to do the same.
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Kudos to Dick’s Sporting Goods and the DICK’S Foundation for their commitment to girls’ sports. The company announced in a press release that its Sports Matter Giving Truck is making an eight-city tour around the country.
Throughout the month of July, the truck is delivering sports equipment to 15,000 youth female athletes in Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Kansas City, and Knoxville.
The DICK’S Foundation hopes to ease the financial burden of families so girls can continue to compete in the sports they love.
On Deck
Here’s a sneak peek at what’s coming up in next week’s issue.
Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) legislation will take effect in six states around the U.S. starting July 1. Others have bills pending. The NCAA is expected to approve some interim changes to its position on student-athletes being compensated.
Will this help or hurt college athletes? It’s a complicated issue with no easy answers, but I’ll weigh in with my thoughts.
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