sport, local-sport,

Confirmation of the rescheduled dates for the Olympic Games have been welcomed in Tasmania. A week after announcing the postponement of the 2020 Games due to the coronavirus pandemic, the International Olympic Committee said they were to be rescheduled for between July 23 and August 8, 2021. The Paralympic Games will follow from August 24 until September 5. Tasmania's national hockey captain Eddie Ockenden, who recently broke the Kookaburras' appearance record, welcomed confirmation of what would be his fourth Olympic Games. "It's really nice now to have a set date to aim towards, but it feels so far away at the moment with everything going on," said the Hobart 32-year-old. "Everything was so up in the air for the last few months and realistically it could never go ahead. "It's awesome to have it postponed and keep the chance to have the Olympics if the world can get through the pandemic." Like many of Tasmania's Olympic hopefuls, the Perth-based father-of-two has returned to his home state to weather the COVID-19 storm. Launceston-born runners Stewart McSweyn and Milly Clark also embraced the development. "Overall I think it's a good thing that the new dates have been released already as it allows the athletes time to reset and work out a plan of action to be in the best possible shape," said McSweyn, 24. "Having that end goal is important for athletes, especially with so many competitions and races currently up in the air." Clark, 31, added: "It is basically exactly one year later, which means in terms of peaking and training for the event - all I need to do is shift everything - mentally and physically - 12 months. "So I think it works out quite well. I am happy with the decision and can now plan out when my next qualifying race and attempt will be." Based on information provided by the World Health organisation, the new dates are a year and a day after those originally planned for 2020. The schedule was announced following a telephone conference meeting between the international Olympic and Paralympic committees, the Tokyo organising committee and Japanese government. The decision was taken based on protecting the health of all concerned and to fit in with the existing 2021 international sports calendar with the aim of providing sufficient time to finish the qualification process. We have removed our paywall from our stories about the coronavirus. This is a rapidly changing situation and we want to make sure our readers are as informed as possible. If you would like to support our journalists you can subscribe here.

/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/sxTb9M93X6i4XPK2ScNNcP/51daa27c-f0cb-4e96-b0b9-2c9a2d65139a.jpg/r0_279_5064_3140_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg