COVID-19: Olympic dreams for locked-down Venezuela athletes

Athletes prepare for the Tokyo Olympics while coping with COVID-19 restrictions

Last updated: May 27, 2020 | 14:47

2 MIN READ

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Stefany Hernandez zips on her bike across a vast, empty boulevard in Venezuela's capital, getting in training where she can find it.

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A 2015 world champion bike motocross racer, she's trying to prepare for the Tokyo Olympics, now delayed until next year, while coping with restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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Hernandez, 28, has already been to two Olympics, winning bronze at Brazil in 2016.

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A two-time world champion in karate, 39-year-old Antonio Diaz-year-old delayed retirement for a crack at the Tokyo Games, which will include karate as a one-time added sport.

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Diaz had to shut down the commercial dojo he owns. He trained at the vacant dojo for awhile, but the country's gasoline shortage has led him to do more practice at home _ where he can be with his wife and child, who was born in August.

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Andres Madera, a gold medalist at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, last year, is also shooting for a spot on the karate team in Tokyo.

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"It will be the first and perhaps the last time'' karate will be on the program," said Madera, who manages to give some classes by video link over the internet.

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"We all want to be in Tokyo. It's a dream come true."

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Venezuelan karateka athlete Andres Madera, a gold medalist at the Pan American Games in Peru last year, teaches combat movements to Irish students online from his home in Caracas, Venezuela.

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