THE postponement of the Tokyo Olympics has been well received by veteran diver Leong Mun Yee and her teammates.
“Based on the current situation, I think postponing the Olympics is certainly a logical decision,” said Mun Yee, who won silver with Pandelela Rinong in the 10m platform synchro at the Montreal World Series earlier this month.
The Olympics, scheduled to be held in Tokyo from July 24-Aug 9, has been postponed for a year by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The national divers, who are Malaysia’s medal prospects at the Tokyo Olympics, welcomed the IOC move, especially since they are unable to train due to the Movement Control Order (MCO).
The 35-year-old Mun Yee, who has been eyeing a record-breaking fifth Olympic appearance in Tokyo, believes that postponing the Games is the right call.
“The Diving World Cup, which was supposed to be held in April, has also been postponed. Several other tournaments leading up to the Olympics have also been affected.
“I’m still in good spirits despite the MCO as I have been doing fitness training at home.
“But this is not ideal. If the situation continues and we are unable to train at the pool, then it will surely affect our preparation and also our performance.”
Pushing back the Olympics by a year would certainly give the divers more time to prepare especially with reigning Olympic silver medallist Cheong Jun Hoong and the men’s squad still chasing qualification.
Amateur Swimming Union of Malaysia (Asum) secretary Mae Chen said: “In my opinion, having the Olympics this year is just not possible as we still need a few months to clean out the virus and by then the summer will be over.
“I suppose postponing the Games is a fair decision as athletes need to start over again after being restricted from training.
“However for us, we still need to wait for IOC’s announcement of the new dates because it might clash with the Sea Games in Vietnam next year,” added Mae.