The garage floor was a problem. It slanted so much that whenever Mattie Rogers finished with a lift and dropped the barbell _ we're talking a lot of weight _ the thing started rolling away.
Training in a makeshift gym at home, with a squat rack next to the washer and dryer, Rogers tried everything to even the surface.
"Various levels of carpet," she said. "I put some grocery bags under the mat to make a speed bump."
These crude conditions don't exactly befit a world-class weightlifter, but with gyms around her Florida hometown shuttered because of the coronavirus, Rogers has no choice.
Elite competitors around the globe have voiced support for postponing the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo because of the COVID-19 pandemic. They know it was the right decision and they like that the International Olympic Committee has quickly set a new date, pushing the Games and ensuing Paralympics back a year.
But athletes at that level tend to operate on meticulous schedules, so the pandemic has thrust them into a starkly different reality.
No one knows when tracks, pools and weight rooms will re-open. The resumption of competition _ crucial to mental preparation and honing a sharp edge, if not qualifying for the Games _ also remains up in the air.
That's why Rogers and others like her are scrambling to adapt. The 24-year-old recently got to work in the house she rents, laying plywood under cushioned mats and stacking weights against the wall.
"I'm just going to train as much as I can," she said. "I want to be sure I'm ready no matter what."
