With the COVID-19 pandemic reaching all corners of the Earth, it comes as no surprise that the 2020 Summer Olympics that were set to take place in Tokyo have been postponed. For Laurence Vincent Lapointe, a 13 time world champion in canoe sprint, this comes as both a relief and a devastation.
The upcoming Summer Games would have been where Lapointe made her first appearance on the Olympic stage. Due to her past success, she was also projected to win gold in her event. However, with the cancellation of the Games, Lapointe will miss out on the opportunity to try for a medal until 2021.
In an interview with Jacqueline Dooley, Lapointe admits that she is somewhat relieved that the games had been cancelled because she is no longer pressured to choose between her own health/safety and continuing to train hard on the water.
What makes this comment particularly interesting is the fact that Lapointe actually considered continuing to put her body through intense training even in the face of the pandemic. This is a classic example of the commitment that professional athletes have to the sport ethic.
Her comment is one that many Olympic athletes would make. They have put their bodies on the line for the previous four years in anticipation of this event. Although the world is in crisis, these athletes were only a few short months away from seeing all of their hard work finally pay off. While it is no secret that professional athletes continuously put their bodies on the line, Lapointe’s comment demonstrates the lengths that these athletes would go to achieve success in their sport.
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Sport, Not Games ⚽ 