Athletes urged to refocus
The 2020 Namibian road cycling national champion said that with sport events currently cancelled or postponed, athletes should not train at full speed, but instead refocus.
05 May 2020 | Sports
NAMPA
WINDHOEK
Namibia's Olympian Dan Craven has called on athletes to refocus their training methods as they wait for the coronavirus pandemic to subside.
Craven, who competed for Team Namibia at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympic Games, spoke at a panel discussion on the impact of the virus on the sport sector in the country at the Covid-19 Information Centre in the capital.
“All of the athletes who have qualified for the Olympics who are also working with my psychologist feel like little train tracks. At the moment, all these athletes were at full speed training for the Olympics with one goal, one obsession, but when they woke up one morning, they were told the games have been postponed for a year.
“This then crashes you as you don't know what to do,” he said.
Preserve energy
Craven, who will once again wear a Namibian jersey when the rescheduled Olympic Games take place, said athletes who are keeping fit for different competitions should change the way they prepare to preserve energy.
“Instead of training hard for an uncertain thing or competitions you don't know when they will happen, you should refocus and train your weakness, injuries and imbalances so that when you come back to full competition, you might have built up your strength and be stronger,” he said.
He added that refocusing training, especially for younger athletes who don't have injuries, can build up strength, which will delay the onset of injuries when they grow older.
Bad times
The Namibian champion also said the coronavirus has affected many athletes, and cyclists too are hard hit.
“With events cancelled at the moment, athletes, especially in the cycling world, have lost that income they got when wearing their sponsors' branding on their jerseys,” Craven said.
WINDHOEK
Namibia's Olympian Dan Craven has called on athletes to refocus their training methods as they wait for the coronavirus pandemic to subside.
Craven, who competed for Team Namibia at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympic Games, spoke at a panel discussion on the impact of the virus on the sport sector in the country at the Covid-19 Information Centre in the capital.
“All of the athletes who have qualified for the Olympics who are also working with my psychologist feel like little train tracks. At the moment, all these athletes were at full speed training for the Olympics with one goal, one obsession, but when they woke up one morning, they were told the games have been postponed for a year.
“This then crashes you as you don't know what to do,” he said.
Preserve energy
Craven, who will once again wear a Namibian jersey when the rescheduled Olympic Games take place, said athletes who are keeping fit for different competitions should change the way they prepare to preserve energy.
“Instead of training hard for an uncertain thing or competitions you don't know when they will happen, you should refocus and train your weakness, injuries and imbalances so that when you come back to full competition, you might have built up your strength and be stronger,” he said.
He added that refocusing training, especially for younger athletes who don't have injuries, can build up strength, which will delay the onset of injuries when they grow older.
Bad times
The Namibian champion also said the coronavirus has affected many athletes, and cyclists too are hard hit.
“With events cancelled at the moment, athletes, especially in the cycling world, have lost that income they got when wearing their sponsors' branding on their jerseys,” Craven said.
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