Ruman Shana, the premier archer of the country, was relieved and expressed content to the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics to 2021 due to Covid-19 pandemic.
Like all his teammates, Ruman went to his home in Khulna on Wednesday, a day after the national archery training camp was called off in response to the postponement of the largest sports show on earth.
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach on Tuesday agreed the Olympics would be rescheduled for the summer of 2021 at the latest.
“It’s a good decision because we were supposed to play many international events before the Olympics and all of those events got postponed too due to coronavirus. The preparation would not be good if the event would take place in time,” Ruman said on Wednesday.
Ruman, the only athlete from Bangladesh to earn a direct qualification to Tokyo 2020 Olympics, was earlier scheduled to participate in Asia Cup Stage 1 in Bangkok, Stage 2 in South Korea, three World Cup events in Guatemala, China and Germany before the Olympics.
“Pray to Allah so that this pandemic virus vanishes soon, then we can take full preparation after competing in international events before the next year’s Olympics.”
“It’s sad that now the camp is closed but this is for everyone. You can’t expect things to go same way in such situation. We have to accept it and prepare ourselves accordingly.”
There was guideline from the national archery team’s German coach Martin Frederick to Ruman and Co to do some physical fitness training at home.
“Martin explained us what to do to maintain the fitness at home, running in the morning if possible along with some indoor physical training,” said Ruman.
“If the break extends and no opportunity to train in Dhaka, then the federation may send the equipment to our respective home. Then we can practice of our own on the space of 5-metre distance.”
The 24-year-old archer also has some advice to the younger teammates. “I told the younger mates to take care of themselves. Life comes first. We should be outside the house. Everyone should take safety measurements. We have to survive.”
