Annalise Murphy, (30), the only Irish sailor nominated so far for the 2021 Olympic Regatta, has spoken of the difficulties presented by COVID-19 in attempting to train at the Tokyo Regatta venue.
The fact that the Olympics is going ahead at all is positive news for the Irish star but after a year of continuous training at home, and little in the way of competition, it has been a frustrating scenario for the National Yacht Club sailor in her bid for Olympic gold next year.
She told a special presentation of the Irish Laser class at its recent AGM that she 'obviously would love to train in Tokyo before the Olympics but the reality is that it might be very difficult to do that'.
Firstly, Murphy says, there is the question about whether international athletes will be allowed into Japan at all during the current lockdown, then there is the level of quarantining required once in Tokyo. "If we have to spend two weeks quarantining in a hotel room in order to just do a two-week training camp then the reward may not really be worth the loss of all that time".
As a result, the Rio silver medalist says, in reality, she 'doesn't really know what is going to happen'.
'We just have to be happy to take it one step at a time. If the opportunity presents itself to go out to Japan beforehand, that's brilliant but if not I can’t worry about it too much because no one else can go out there either'.
Her plan is to stay positive over the winter and 'roll with whatever happens', she concludes.