Olympic ambitions spiked for Laura Muir, but break may work out for Eilidh Doyle

The event’s organisers took the decision this week to postpone the games, which were due to begin on July 24.

Japan president Shinzo Abe, supported by the International Olympic Committee announced that the Olympics would be “rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community”.

Laura, from Milnathort, was left shattered after missing out on a podium place at the Rio games.

Since then, though, she’s been crowned European 1500m champion, won four European Indoors titles and 3000m bronze and 1500m silver at the World Indoors.

Hopes were high that she could muscle in on medal contention in Tokyo, having been able to focus on her athletics full-time following her graduation as a vet.

For Kinross hurdler Eilidh, though, the postponment may be an advantage as she works her way back to full fitness after a pregnancy hiatus.

She has two Olympics to her name, and the veteran knows exactly how the younger athletes will be feeling after building up revolving their schedules set to peak at the games.

Speaking to our sister paper, The Scotsman, Eilidh said: “Their prep has been affected and that is not what you want heading to an Olympics.

“We wait four years for this and while we train for Worlds or Europeans, this is the pinnacle.

“It will be hard for many to wait another year but it was the right decision.”

Director of performance and coaching with scottishathletics, Stephen Maguire, welcomed the postponemnt.

McGuire believes the speculation over whether or not they would be given the green light would have had a physical and mental impact on athletes and coaches.

“I’ve been talking to athletes and coaches constantly in recent weeks and one of the phrases was to try and keep ‘ticking over’,” said McGuire, who also has a role with British Athletics in sprints, hurdles and relays.

“But when, actually, that becomes difficult, there is no prospect of competition to achieve standards and issues over a qualifying trials then there were all sorts of issues regardless of if Japan was somehow OK to travel to at some later date.

“And at last we have some certainty. The lack of clarity was a definite danger in mental health terms – frustration building up at not being able to train in the right way or the right environment, frustration at a lack of competition, a fear of not being suddenly ready when asked to be.

“So all in all I am very relieved with this outcome from what is a difficult time for so many people.”