Olympic pole vault champion, Katerina Stefanidi, issued on Sunday a positive reaction to the postponement of the Olympic Games to 2021, having previously been an outspoken advocate of this measure.
Stefanidi, who won gold at Rio 2016, said on state broadcaster ERT that it was always going to be a difficult decision but it needed to be done.
“The postponement was made a little late but could have been made even later, given that originally the International Olympic Committee had said they would announce their decision in May,” Stefanidi said.
READ MORE: Katerina Stefanidi faces new challenge for Olympics as all training stadiums in Greece remain shut.
She also acknowledged that her pride for being the last torchbearer at the Greek leg of the Olympic Flame Relay last month was mitigated by the fact that this was eventually done in front of empty stands at the Panathenaic Stadium.
“I would have liked organisers to give us the opportunity to do it again in normal circumstances for next year’s Games, but I understand the Flame has now been delivered to Tokyo and they will keep it in Japan, so it’s alright,” she said.
Her comment comes in the wake of the Government’s announcement that it hopes there will be a return to local sporting action in Greece next month.
“We hope, we estimate, that some time in May there will be some resumption of sports activity in Greece,” Deputy Minister for Sports, Lefteris Avgenakis, said last week.
