Postponing games creates great opportunity for athletes

ANKARA

Turkish hammer thrower Ozkan Baltaci believes the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games will create a great opportunity for athletes who want to improve themselves.

"Many sports events were postponed. The most important of these is the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. I worked hard for the games like many professional athletes," Baltaci said, adding that this postponement would bring both advantages and disadvantages.

He told Anadolu Agency that he sees this as an advantage for himself, noting that the additional year is a great opportunity for him to even better prepare for the games.

But he said quarantine and isolation periods will make it very difficult for athletes to maintain their fitness, adding there will be athletes who will be adversely affected, especially psychologically.

"But speaking personally -- since I am an optimistic person -- when I am in such a process, I make sure that I remain healthy, and work hard sticking to the training program," he said.

Baltaci said that as an athlete he had to continue his training program at his home due to the measures against the spread of the virus.

"Foreseeing the current situation, I had previously prepared my training materials," he said.

Baltaci noted that his low-volume training at home is very different from the one he does in the fields and arenas.

"The main purpose of the training we do at home is to prevent our body from losing its fitness below a certain level and to keep it ready to start training after this virus is over.

"I have been living in Ankara for so many years, away from my family. Due to the outbreak, I returned to Izmir, which is my hometown," Baltaci said.

"Nowadays, I love both being with my family and doing activities at home such as reading books, following the news, and watching movies."

- Wealth of achievements

The 25-year-old hammer thrower clinched his spot two years ago for the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games after throwing the mallet 77.5 meters in a 2019 local competition, meeting the threshold.

He is ranked 23rd in the world's best hammer throwers list on worldathletics.org.

- Postponing of games

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games have been postponed until next year due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons also had supported the decision, saying that delaying the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games is absolutely the right thing to do.

The Olympic Games will be held on July 23-Aug. 8, 2021 and the Paralympic Games on Aug. 24-Sept. 5, 2021.

- Spread of coronavirus pandemic

Since the virus emerged last December in the Chinese city of Wuhan, it has spread to at least 185 countries and regions.

The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a pandemic.

There are over 1.98 million confirmed infections globally with more than 126,700 deaths, according to the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University. Nearly 494,000 have recovered so far.