North East Olympian Aly Dixon has welcomed the postponement of the Tokyo games - and hinted she might aim to compete at them too.
The Sunderland-born distance runner said the International Olympics Committee (IOC) made the right call when it delayed the games by a year last week.
Individual competitors and athletic organisations had publicly called for the event date to be changed in line with how other sports have responded to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Japanese Government, the IOC and event organisers came for criticism over the length of time it took to announce the delay, with some national associations threatening to pull out of the games altogether.
In a joint statement, the Tokyo 2020 organisers and the IOC said they had listened to concerns and moved the event to next year.
Aly Dixon - who ran in the marathon event in the 2016 Rio games - told ChronicleLive organisers have made the right call.
She said: "I'm 100% behind the postponement. Whilst sport is important for many, right now the health of the world is much much more important.
"As athletes we have to do our bit and set good examples, it is pretty impossible to do that when we are trying to continue to train for an Olympics.
"Cancelling would have been devastating with many athletes around the world having dreams shattered as they could not go on for another four years.
"Postponement means that those dreams are just on hold. Yes, for some this might have been 'their year' but right now they still have those dreams as we don't know what next year will bring."
The delay has also given the 41-year-old a decision to make about her own career.
Despite setting a new world record over 50km - an 'ultra-marathon' distance - in September 2019, Aly was considering hanging up her running shoes at the end of the year.
But with a period of enforced rest facing all athletes, she's weighing up whether to target a swan song at the rearranged games in 2021.
Aly said: "For me personally, I need to reassess things over the next few weeks/months.
"My initial plan was to retire at the end of this year but now I'll have to see how the body feels and decide if I have it physically and mentally to give it one last shot."
The Olympics is the latest in a long line of major events to fold in the face of the coronavirus pandemic in recent weeks.
In football, the European Championships have been delayed, as well as the Champions League and Europa League finals.
Tennis, rugby, cricket, cycling and golf are all facing major disruption to their calendars.
