Olympics delay helps protect athletes’ mental health says Sebastian Coe
Sebastian Coe says postponing the Olympics was the right move. Picture: MARTIN/RICKETT/PA - Credit: PA
Sebastian Coe says the decision to postpone the Tokyo Olympics until the summer of 2021 was the right thing to do to protect the athletes’ mental health.
The decision was taken last week after the International Olympic Committee bowed to pressure from countries and World Athletics.
And speaking with his president of World Athletics hat on, Lord Coe believes delaying the Games and Paralympics has stopped athletes from suffering mentally.
“We didn’t want to have the athletes in a position where they were countering government advice, maybe even breaking the law,” he told TalkSport.
“And of course in the back of their minds was always that concern, it wasn’t just their own training programme, but that they ran the risk of infecting themselves, their families, their kids, grandparents or parents.
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“We just wanted to take them out of that mental turmoil as quickly as we possibly could.”
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