Olympic Dreams Deferred

Miraculously landing on one leg, gymnast Kerri Strug is carried off by coach Bela Karolyi. Soon after, she ends up on the medals stand. Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird carry the Dream Team to a gold medal victory with the help of supporting cast that comprises the greatest basketball team in history. Rulon Gardner beats the unbeatable Russian wrestler Aleksandr Karelin for the gold. Moments like these should be happening in Japan right now. The games of the 32^nd Olympiad should have wrapped up a few days ago. Instead, they never began.

“We have friends that have trained with the Olympians in Japan. At one point we had plane tickets lined up and we were going to go to the Olympics. It’s just really disappointing. It was something we were looking forward to for a long time,” said Chris Rose, who along with his fiancé Celenna Duet, owns Wichita Judo.

The pandemic created by COVID-19 delayed the 2020 games in Japan and upset plans across the globe. Athletes who practiced their skills for years in preparation for the event were forced to delay their lifelong dreams until July 2021. For many athletes, especially in sports like gymnastics, there is a very limited window for staying competitive at such a high level. Younger swimmers, sprinters or gymnasts are guaranteed to be waiting in the wings for their own moment. The average age of a female Olympic gymnast has been as low as 16 in the modern Olympics. Though that number has crept up in recent years, most of those athletes are still teenagers. A one-year delay can kill a dream.

“Everybody is ready to go and in the prime of their life to fight. And now it’s postponed for a year. It’s like icing a basketball player at the free throw line,” Rose said.

Some Olympic sports, like basketball, soccer or baseball are flooded with money and attention from hordes of fanatical followers outside of the structure of the Olympics. But many niche sports rely on the Olympics to rejuvenate the interest of the public every four years.

“We’ve had ‘Tokyo Bound’ shirts going out since last year,” said Wichita Gymnastics owner Shannon Turner.

In its 50^th year of operation, Wichita Gymnastics relies on the Olympics to help promote their sport. The club has run clinics with US Olympic team member Laurie Hernandez and conducted promotions involving celebrated Olympian Gabby Douglas.

“Every kid who watches it on TV, they want to be an Olympic gymnast. We see a huge boost in the fall after the Summer Olympics and we kind of budget for that. And so it has been a little rough because we thought that was coming. So we buy equipment and staff it up to make sure we are ready for it,” Turner said.

The story is similar for Wichita Judo.

“…the Olympics is the world’s stage for athletic events. People get to see a little bit of what this art is and how it is expressed without being in a [UFC] cage and covered with blood. They get to see what real judo actually looks like. Thousands of people will see it and a hook will be landed in a couple of them. They’ll be like, ‘This looks like something I want to try,’” Rose said.

The ancient sport of fencing also is accustomed to a bump from the Olympics.

“Usually leading up to the Olympics and in the trailing year we see a gradual uptick in newer and returning fencers,” said Court Dyke, Wichita Fencing Academy coach.

Unlike many sports, the fencing academy has seen a small silver lining during the pandemic.

“Now with all sports on halt, limited or altered states, the freeze hasn’t hurt as much as anticipated and has brought in some people whose normal sports has been altered or shut down,” Dyke said.

The limitations imposed by the pandemic have been particularly impactful on sports that require a great deal of close contact.

“Because the way judo works, you can’t do it without touching someone. It’s all about throwing people and you can’t throw someone from 6 feet away. It has shut the dojo down completely,” Rose said.

Local gymnasts have been hit hard by the restrictions as well.

“Our competitive team is used to being on the equipment, putting their hands on the bars and feet on the beams, up to 30 hours a week. When that went to nothing for the shutdown: that was very hard,” Turner said.

Fortunately for the young athletes, Wichita Gymnastics has been able to increase their operations since the shutdown. A vigilant cleaning regimen, constant washing of hands and an increase in small groups and outdoor activities has enabled the students to continue their training.

“I have to be able to sleep at night and I want the kids to be safe, so I work diligently for it,” Turner said.

Though the deferred Olympics have a firm start date of July 23, 2021, the specter of another shutdown looms. However, Rose has high hopes for next year’s games. The Tokyo Olympics have a particularly important role for judo. In 1964, when Japan last hosted the summer games, judo had its debut. According to Rose, the sport was dominated by Japanese athletes who presumed they would roll over the competition. In fact, they had to fight for their medals. Rose believes that this year would have been Japan’s opportunity to defend their place as the parent country of judo, something he was excited to witness. But he will have to wait another 12 months.

“What the Olympics will provide for us is exposure. We were hoping to get a little excitement stirred up. … We will be flooding Facebook, Instagram, and all our social media sites,” Rose said.

Dyke and the Wichita Fencing Academy are ready to go as well.

“We are a sponsoring club for the Olympics and have been for the last five years. I am also a Team USA and USA Fencing team voting supporter, so once the Olympics are back on in 2021, we can show our support like we have done in past years,” he said.

The heartbreak and disappointment among athletes, coaches and fans is only lessened by the hope of 2021. The Olympic dream has not died for these people, but it is a comatose. Across many Olympic sports, the hope is that the “patient” revives and recovers with the same spirit she had before. The dream of standing on the medal platform lingers.

“Every [Olympic] year there is a little girl who thinks she can do it,” Turner said.