Collegiate athletes will be hardest hit ꟷ coach Francis

COVID-19 lockdown…

Celebrated Jamaica track and field coach Stephen Francis expects collegiate athletes to be hardest hit by the current shutdown surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, but he insists that all is not yet lost.

The rapid onslaught of this infectious disease has seen postponement or cancellation of sporting events around the globe. In a bid to halt the spread of the virus, many universities in the United States have closed their doors, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association last week took the decision to axe its spring athletics season.
Further afield, pressure continues to mount on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to postpone the Tokyo Games, with the latest news suggesting a decision would be reached in four weeks’ time.
With the universities serving as a home and training base, and a place for healthy competition for athletes who may qualify to take part in the Olympics, which includes several Jamaicans, Francis believes they will be hardest hit.
“The biggest problem I see is the NCs, because that is where you have the most breakthroughs, so to speak; and that’s cancelled,” Francis told RJR Sports.
“Those athletes can’t even train, because their coaches are gone home and the universities are closed; so, most of them are without a coach,” he added.
“But by and large, for most of the world, much hasn’t changed. People still, for the most part, can do their workouts. They can’t compete, but it’s up to the coaches to devise methods for substituting for competition,” he explained.
Francis believes that athletes who miss out if the Olympics are cancelled have no cause for real alarm, as they would still have opportunities to shine.
“Every year you have people that make a breakthrough, but I don’t think you need the Olympics to make a breakthrough. You can make a breakthrough so long as there are meets to be run,” Francis declared.
Francis has coached the likes of Olympics and World Champion medallists Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Melanie Walker, Brigitte Foster-Hylton and Asafa Powell. (Excerpted from Sportsmax)