Iranian wrestler Mohammad Ali Geraei, 25, is frustrated due the uncertainty over Tokyo Games. The two-time world medallist says that all the preparations will go down the tube if the Summer Games are not held next year.
“Uncertainty is very annoying and if the plans are not clear, it will destroy the motivation,” he told the Iranian Wrestling Federation (IWF).
The Olympic Games which were scheduled to be held in Tokyo this July were pushed to 2021 due to the outbreak of coronavirus. But as things now stand there is still uncertainty over the quadrennial tournament.
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Asked if he thought the Olympics would be held next year, he said: “We hope that the Olympics will be held next year and that the efforts and hardships we have endured during this time and all the patience we have put in will not be wasted, and the only motivation”.
The 2018 Asian Games gold medallist is currently training with his brother Mohammad Reza in Shiraz. They exercise in the gym twice a day, keeping in line with all the necessary precautions.
Asked how he spends his free time, he said: “I don’t go out much and I try to be with my family. In addition to sports activities, I do other things to spend my free time, including playing computer games and reading books.” And I do the novel Pride and Prejudice.
Asked if he was tired of staying home and how he was feeling, Geraei said: “I have the opportunity to be with my family and it will definitely give us the spirit to be in the presence of our loved ones and I am very well psychologically.
Repeated visits to the camps during these years were very difficult, and I may have stayed in the camp for up to 40 days, and it was a good opportunity to get away from the difficult training conditions so that, God willing, we could be motivated by the coronavirus and the conditions. Let’s go back to camps and training.
