By Owen Morgan
Aled Davies has revealed he is preparing for the re-arranged Paralympic Games in his back garden.
On the day the new dates of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics were announced, multiple gold medallist Davies was already focussing on the re-set target.
Because of the coronavirus crisis, this year’s Olympics – due to take place from July 24, 2020 to August 9 this year – and the Paralympics, scheduled between 25 August 25 and September 6, have been postponed.
On Monday, the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee agreed the new dates, which Welsh athletes will be marking up on their 2021 calendars.
The Olympics will now be celebrated from 23 July, 2021 to August 8, 2021. The new dates for the Paralympics will be August 24, 2021 to September 5, 2021.
Davies, who won gold in the T42 discus at the London Paralympics in 2012 and repeated his triumph in the F42 shot put in Rio four years later, says preparations for Tokyo were going well before the global pandemic hit.
The multiple world champion and world record breaker told S4C Welsh language news programme Newyddion: “Training was going well, I had prepared better than ever before so I was ready to compete.
“But with the conditions facing everyone around the world over the coming weeks, they were not going to be the Games they could be.
“When I compete at the Games I want to compete against the best people, who have been preparing in the best possible way and coming to do battle.”
Davies, who became a dad just before winning his fourth consecutive shot put World Championship gold medal in Dubai last year, revealed his new family home has an added feature which is proving invaluable during the national lockdown.
“At the moment I’m really lucky because I can prepare in my back garden, I have a circle there and I can throw into a net.
“I can lift weights too,” said Davies, who has a total of seven world titles in shot put and discus.
“Hopefully, at the end of this, we can prepare and look forward to Tokyo next year where we can compete against the best in the world.
“But for now, we have to listen and keep safe.”