Ato voices concern for athletes’ mental state

FOUR-time TT Olympic medallist Ato Boldon says while physical training will undoubtedly be affected for athletes who were preparing for the 2020 Olympic Games, he is also concerned about their mental wellness.

Boldon, who is also a sprint coach and NBC sports analyst, was speaking on sports broadcast producer Don Cardona’s Sports in the Making podcast on Thursday. Cardona has worked with companies such as ESPN and NBC Sports.

When discussing the postponement of the Olympics to 2021 because of the covid19 pandemic, Boldon said it was not just the “right” move but “the only move.

“When you see countries like Canada and Australia pull out and say, ‘You know what? No matter if they’re having the Olympics or not, we are not subjecting our athletes to what could be possibly waiting in Tokyo, Japan.’”

Asked how such a change will affect athletes, Boldon said while he had never experienced anything like this during his athletic career, he believes a mental adjustment would have to be made.

“All of them just kinda said, ‘Okay, the work that I would have done since the fall is all pretty much gonna go away’.

“Everybody was laser-focused on being ready for something…I think the limbo is the hardest thing for a lot of these athletes, because Olympic athletes only know one speed, and that is, crank it. And right now, they can’t really crank it, because they’re not trying to be in the best shape of their lives in September. So I think that’s gonna be the hardest part for all of them.”

Cardona likened the situation to a record becoming scratched and disrupting the steady flow of music it once created.

Asked how he would help athletes to get through the next year, Boldon said, “The part that I’m worried about is athletes who would have spent an entire year not being in peak physical condition.

“That, to me, is the bigger situation, where I’m looking at my athlete and saying, ‘Okay, so she didn’t have a complete 2019 (season), and she only had an indoor season in 2020, and then she’s gonna be asked to ramp it up for 2021’. That, to me, is the tougher part.

“A lot of coaches are thinking it but they aren’t saying it. That is the real challenge.”

The two also discussed Boldon’s life, hobbies and athletic career, among other things.