Williams, Beckford agree with Tokyo postponement

GYMNASTS TONI-ANN Williams and Reiss Beckford will have to hold their breaths for an extended period to find out if they will participate in the pending Olympic Games, as the event has been pushed back a year because of the outbreak of the coronavirus.

Williams, who became the first Jamaican gymnast to participate in an Olympic Games, at Rio four years ago, is on the cusp of qualification, as she is scheduled to compete in the Pan American Cup, the last qualifying meet before the Olympics.

Beckford is striving to become the first Jamaican male gymnast to participate in an Olympic Games. He, too, has a final attempt to realise his dream of gracing the Olympic stage by performing well at the now-postponed Pan American Cup.

Even though they were eager to get qualification out of the way, they support the decision to push back the Games for another year.

“I think it was the best decision to postpone the events, because it wasn’t fair to the athletes to be left in limbo; keep working not knowing what is going to happen,” Beckford said.

“Most countries are in lockdown, and that makes it difficult for athletes to train.”

“I do believe that this was the best decision for everyone in the world,” Williams said.

Sympathy

“My heart goes out to all the athletes in the world, because we put a lot of work into getting to where we need to be, in order to participate at these sporting events. I am still excited to work with my teammates to work towards getting to the Olympics.”

Jamaica Gymnastics Association president Nicole Grant-Brown has developed a regime to keep the young gymnasts fit while observing the restrictions imposed by the Government for no gathering,-to reduce the spreading of the virus.

“We have the students send in videos of their workouts and we make assessments and give them feedback,” Grant-Brown said.

akino.ming@gleanerjm.com