Mentally very difficult to train like this, feels Britain’s Taekwondo star

London, March 21 (SocialNews.XYZ) Two-time Taekwondo Olympic medalist Lutalo Muhammad has said it is very difficult mentally to train like this for the Tokyo Olympics, at a time almost everything is postponed or suspended in the sporting world due to the coronavirus outbreak.

"Mentally it's been very difficult these last few days," he was quoted as saying by Sky Sports. "I feel like the rug has been pulled from under me.

"It's not just me, I'm in contact with lots of athletes from a lot of different sports and a lot of people feel a bit lost right now. To train without an obvious goal you feel like you're training in limbo. Things have been cancelled, you're not sure about rescheduling. It's a bit strange, I've ever experienced anything like this.

"We've been training for four years -- everything is geared up to the Olympics, there's definitely a feeling of uncertainty but we have to trust that the IOC will make the best decision. Let's see."

Muhammad is a bronze medalist in 2012 and a silver medalist in Rio, making him Britain Taekwondo's most successful ever male athlete.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach has told the New York Times "different scenarios" for Tokyo 2020 are now being considered for the first time.

World Athletics chief Sebastian Coe has said that it is possible to postpone the 2020 Olympics if necessary. On Friday, a member of the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) called for the Tokyo Olympic Games to be postponed.

Retired judo athlete Kaori Yamaguchi, who is also a member of JOC executive board, told Japan's Nikkei newspaper that athletes are not able to prepare adequately for the Olympic Games scheduled to start from July 24.

Source: IANS