The postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games due to the coronavirus crisis was a major setback for countless athletes. But, having come to Japan in November, 2019 for pre-Olympic training, the South Sudanese national track and field team has chosen to use the postponement to its advantage and stay based in Japan. Part of the reasoning behind the postponement of the Games was increasing pressure on the Organizing Committee and the IOC from athletes and sports associations concerned about the cancelation of qualifying events and quarantine restrictions that made it difficult for some athletes to train. Still a young and poor country, in the South Sudan even if athletes want to train the only places to work out are empty fields. It's hard to find the kind of facilities people take for granted in Japan. As a result, when the national team received news of the first-ever Olympic postponement, they decided to stay in Japan until at least July in order to maximize t...
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