Canadian athletes begin one-year countdown to rescheduled Tokyo Summer Olympics

Dayna Pidhoresky has been trying to stay active while adhering to the restrictions placed on what people can do and where they can do it because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the Vancouver-based long distance runner is not your average marathoner.

“It’s a bit surreal, I suppose, but making the Olympic team has also been surreal,” said Pidhoresky.

Had it not been for the pandemic, Pidhoresky would be on her way to Tokyo, Japan for the Summer Olympics.

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“This summer I am just keeping active and doing things I might not normally do, like trail running and a little more cycling,” said Pidhoresky.

The games being delayed has had a huge impact on the mindset and training regiment of Canada’s athletes.

“They’ve been at home sitting there trying to maintain base fitness — trying to take advantage of this time,” said Marnie McBean, Canada’s Chef de Mission and three-time Olympics Gold medallist.

The good news, McBean says, is that athletes are used to uncertainty.

In her last letter to the athletes, she addressed how it’s been the summer no one expected and mused about what could possibly come next, but said she is overwhelmingly positive and proud of Team Canada.

“The nature of Olympic Athletes is we’re used to our paths being disrupted. We are used to chaos. We are used to uncertainty as to what our outcome is going to be.”

The games are set to go ahead come July 2021, despite continued transmission of COVID-19 in Japan and around the globe.

But that decision isn’t welcomed by some.

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Several dozen people wearing masks gathered Friday outside of the National Stadium.

The protesters held signs and chanted about how they do not want the Olympics to go ahead, partly for fears about the virus not being under control.

The games will bring together athletes from more than 200 countries, not to mention spectators from around the world.

But then there’s the cost.

Delaying the game by one year has added to the Olympic price tag, but the exact cost is not yet known.

Conservative estimates for the games now suggest the cost could be around $15 billion, up from roughly $7 billion when the games were awarded to Japan in 2013.

Rescheduling the games was a massive undertaking, but the Olympic Village is reported to be ready, all the venues confirmed and the competition schedule set.

“Our plans were garbaged in March but our goals weren’t — our goals are the same. How we are going to get there and achieve them will have to be different, ” said McBean.

As for Pidhoresky, she is trying to turn the negative that is the pandemic and the year-long delay into something positive.

“The only thing I can do is focus on what I can control, and that is working hard and be the best athlete I can be.”