Coronavirus disrupts athletes' path to the Olympics

Grace McCallum refers to it as "thinking on your toes." Every time she performs a gymnastics routine, she has a Plan B in her head, ready to make an instant adjustment if something goes wrong.

That skill served her well last week, when concerns about the coronavirus began disrupting athletes' paths to the Olympics. McCallum, of Isanti, was preparing to be an alternate at a World Cup meet next week in Stuttgart, Germany. She found out Wednesday it had been canceled, as the pandemic led the governing bodies of many Olympic sports to join the NBA, NHL, NCAA and other organizations in temporarily shutting down competition.

"My season is still going to go on," said McCallum, who is scheduled to compete at another World Cup event March 28 in Birmingham, England. "But with everything that's happening, everyone is all over the place, trying to figure out what to do. Some people are scrambling."

The International Olympic Committee reiterated last week that it is "fully committed" to staging the Summer Games as scheduled, in Tokyo from July 24 to Aug. 9. Despite that confident stance, a torrent of Olympic qualifying events around the world were called off or delayed last week, often with no clear idea of how that will affect the qualifying process. Other competitions and training camps were put on hold, too, disrupting schedules that athletes had mapped out months in advance.

Gymnast Suni Lee of St. Paul was supposed to represent the U.S. at the Stuttgart meet. Her coach, Jess Graba, said he understands that authorities are trying to do the right thing to prevent further spread of the coronavirus. But the cancellation "really messes up the plan," he added, with no hint of when the uncertainty might end.

It was deflating for Lee, who won three medals at the world championships in October, to lose her long-awaited season opener. Graba called it "a major shock" that led to a stressful week.

"Suni was really looking forward to that meet," he said. "And to her, I'm sure it feels like a lot of hard work just went down the drain.

"I've never seen anything like this. I have no idea what's going to happen tomorrow."

Athletes in many sports are training now to peak for the Olympic trials, and others are competing in events that will qualify them for the Games. They entered the year with detailed plans, scheduling their workouts, competition and recovery periods for maximum efficiency.

The coronavirus has forced many of them to reset. Last week, as public health authorities began to advise against large gatherings, events of all kinds were postponed. Most have not announced new dates, leaving athletes in a holding pattern.

Olympic qualifying tournaments in baseball, three-on-three basketball, soccer, water polo, boxing and triathlon were put on hold. US Rowing postponed an Olympic trials regatta that was to be held next week, and USA Wrestling announced its Olympic trials — scheduled for April 4-5 at Penn State — would be pushed back to an undetermined date. Some organizations went further; USA Swimming and USA Diving are among those suspending all activities, including training camps, for 30 days.

Hassan Mead, a 2016 Olympian from Minneapolis, is preparing to compete in the 10,000 meters at the track and field trials in June. He expected to end the first phase of his 2020 training with a half-marathon Sunday in New York City, which was canceled. Now, Mead will not compete until Stanford's Payton Jordan Invitational in May.

"I put a lot of energy into training for that race," said Mead, a former Gopher who trains with Oregon Track Club Elite. "And now, there are so many other events being canceled, and travel is getting more difficult. It definitely disrupts our schedule."

It was like watching "dominoes falling," Mead said, as news of sports cancellations and postponements turned from a trickle to an avalanche in a few days' time. It feels that way to Graba, too, as he recalibrates after the Stuttgart meet was called off.

Lee planned to debut a new bars routine in Germany, one she has been previewing for weeks on social media. She now is targeting the Continental Championships in early May, but that won't allow the downtime Graba wants before Lee ramps back up for the U.S. Classic later that month.

Lee is scheduled to be the alternate to McCallum at the March 28 meet in England. Graba worries that it might be canceled next, and even if it isn't, he's concerned about traveling overseas.

"Right now, there's fear about what the next few weeks are going to drop," Graba said. "Now, I'm nervous about the return from Birmingham. Are we going to get tested when we come back in? Would they quarantine us, and then we're down for a week or two, waiting to see what happens?

"It's nobody's fault, and you can't control it. But it's a mess. It's hard to stay focused on training.' "

A few Minnesotans were among the last wave of athletes to participate in camps or competitions before things went dark. Greco-Roman wrestler Pat Smith, a former Gopher from Chaska, finished third Friday in the 77-kilogram class at the Pan Am Olympic Qualifier in Ottawa. The tournament — held without spectators — is set to continue through Sunday, and wrestlers were still on the mats when it was announced that the U.S. trials were postponed.

Mallory Weggemann, a Paralympic gold medalist in swimming, went to Florida for a national team camp on Thursday. Even as other camps, clinics and meets have been shut down, she and 14 other athletes expect to continue training until Tuesday.

The International Paralympic Committee said Friday that "planning and preparations for Tokyo 2020 continue apace," with the Paralympic Games scheduled to open on Aug. 25.

While Weggemann is concerned about all the people affected by COVID-19, she isn't worried about getting sick, since "we're all training in a vat of chlorine." Amid all the upheaval, she was grateful for a camp that provided a little cocoon of normalcy.

Weggemann, who is from Eagan, said the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee "is responding, not reacting."

"They're being very vigilant, but they're taking time to formulate responses, versus knee-jerk reactions," she added.

"We don't all know what we're going to come home to on Tuesday. So getting some great training and being able to focus on the end goal is really nice during a time that's uncertain and chaotic."

Like the general population, athletes are taking extra precautions to try and stay healthy. McCallum said her gym, Twin City Twisters in Champlin, is being disinfected regularly, and she is careful to wash her hands frequently.

Shoreview native Kyra Condie had an even greater responsibility. A climber, she already has made the U.S. Olympic team. Condie also is a member of the USA Climbing board of directors, and she cast a vote last week to delay a national championship this month.

As an athlete, she knew how disappointing it would be. Her own Olympic preparations were affected when World Cup events in Switzerland and South Korea, set for April and May, were pushed back to the fall. But she said the information the board received from health professionals and epidemiologists left little choice.

"It was one of the most obvious calls the board has had to make in this kind of case," said Condie, who trains in Salt Lake City. "They said it would be possible to hold an event with limited spectators, but we decided to be more cautious. It was unfortunate. But it was definitely the right call."

Sarah Jantzi, McCallum's coach, said she hopes the effort to slow the spread of coronavirus will allow things to return to normal soon. For now, she and McCallum will stick to their routine as closely as possible.

"We're still training like the Olympics are going to happen," she said. "The less you think about it, and just stick to doing gymnastics and what you love, you'll be prepared. And if it doesn't happen, you're still doing what you love."

That question — will the Olympics happen? — is being posed to athletes everywhere. Longtime International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound told the Associated Press in February that it is more likely the Olympics would be canceled rather than postponed, and a decision would have to be made by late May.

For now, athletes said, all they can do is keep calm and carry on.

"With March Madness getting canceled, that's a reality check," Mead said. "If the world can't contain [the coronavirus], there is a possibility the Olympics could get canceled. But it's out of our control. You just want to stay healthy and keep training, and see how things pan out."