The U.S. Olympic Committee has not told its athletes anything official about the 2020 Tokyo Games being postponed, although that seems like a foregone conclusion in the coming days.
USA Today reported on Monday afternoon that a veteran International Olympic Committee member, Canadian Dick Pound, said the Games would be postponed. The Games would likely be pushed back 12 months to 2021, although those details have not been finalized.
But the IOC has not made anything official as of yet, saying on Sunday that it would make a determination within the next four weeks.
Because of that, athletes such as two-time gold medalist and Fort Worth resident Vincent Hancock continue to prepare as though the Games are on as scheduled, from July 24 to Aug. 9, no matter how unlikely that may not seem.
Hancock, who has already qualified for his fourth Games in men's skeet shooting, understands the situation and has been following closely.
He's seen national governing bodies such as USA Swimming and USA Track & Field lobby for the Games to be postponed to 2021. He's seen other countries such as Norway and Brazil make similar pleas.
But the situation has since escalated, with Canada and Australia becoming the first two nations to say, flat-out, that they will not send athletes to Tokyo in 2020. They will only have representatives if the Games are moved to 2021.
Then came the USA Today report on Monday.
"I completely understand and respect the decisions by multiple USOPC NGB's and other National Olympic Committees who want a postponement," Hancock said in a text message to the Star-Telegram. "The overall health and welfare of not only the athletes, but also anyone they come into contact with is of utmost importance. However, I am doing the best I can to prepare as though nothing has changed until I hear otherwise."
Hancock is among several North Texans with Olympic aspirations going through this uncertainty. He, along with women's skeet shooter Austen Smith of Keller and men's trap shooter Brian Burrows of Denton, have all qualified for the 2020 Games and continue to train and prepare out of Fort Worth Trap & Skeet.
If the Olympics is postponed to 2021, the belief is that every athlete who has already locked in a spot on Team USA will retain that spot. "From what I've heard, all athletes on the team will stay on the team," Hancock said.
For the trio training out at Fort Worth Trap & Skeet, it's been a "business as usual" approach. As an outdoor sport, the group is able to maintain social distancing while preparing for the Games.
But that isn't true for other athletes.
Gyms have been shut down across the country, leaving athletes scrambling to find places to train. Five-time gold medalist swimmer Katie Ledecky is among many swimmers who are struggling to find a pool to train at these days.
The same can be said for former TCU rifle member Rachel Garner, who doesn't have a range to practice at. The Celina native had been practicing at TCU's shooting range but that has been shut down in recent days. And, as a nurse at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, she is not able to travel outside the metroplex during this pandemic.
"We're working on ways to be creative," Garner said. "In a lot of ways you can train without live firing. Just hold and get in position. We're doing the best we can. Across the world, everyone is pretty limited."
Garner is in position to make her first Olympic team. She's in second place following the first phase of the smallbore trials. Phase 2 was scheduled for later this month, but has been postponed to a date to be determined. USA Shooting takes the top two shooters in the discipline to the Olympics, meaning Garner would have a spot based off Phase 1 results.
Would it be fair to give her a spot without conducting the entire trials? How sharp would she be for the Olympics if she doesn't find another range to practice at?
Those are the many questions as to why postponing the Games is a real possibility.
On the one hand, having the Olympics go on as scheduled would be a nice transition back to normalcy this summer if the coronavirus threat is deemed to be under control. On the other hand, athletes have spent weeks and months _ if not years _ honing their craft so that their athletic peak falls during a specific window on the calendar.
That's a decision the IOC faces in the coming weeks. And, to be clear, the IOC is only considering postponing the Olympics. Canceling, the organization has said, is "not on the agenda."
