Japanese boxing nurse has Olympic dream crushed by COVID

Japanese boxing nurse has Olympic dream crushed by COVID

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Japanese nurse Arisa Tsubata has trained around her work shifts for over a year to prepare for a final Olympic boxing qualifier in the hope of making it to the Tokyo Games this summer.

That dream was shattered after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) cancelled the boxing qualifier due to take place in June and said it would allocate spots to athletes based on their world rankings in recent years.

. Tokyo, Japan. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Tsubata trains with Yuki Yamashita, the head doctor of The Life Support Clinic and a Karate practitioner, during a morning training session at the gym inside the psychiatric clinic.

The change in criteria has effectively shut the door on many Olympic hopefuls such as Tsubata, whose rankings are not good enough to earn them an automatic qualification for the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Other qualifying competitions for the Olympics have also been cancelled.

In order to focus on her boxing, the 27-year old quit her job at a major hospital in January to take on a less demanding and lower paid position at a smaller psychiatric clinic.

. Tokyo, Japan. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Tsubata collects blood from an outpatient.

Since then, she has trained over three hours a day during the week and extra hours on Saturdays, only taking Sundays off to rest or to get a massage.

"It's very disappointing," said Tsubata, who currently works at the Life Support Clinic in Tokyo. "I had been working so hard for a year after the postponement of the Olympics, and it's so frustrating that I don't even have the right to compete."

. Tokyo, Japan. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Tsubata looks at the National Stadium, the main stadium of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics.

Japan has said the Olympic Games, delayed in 2020 due to COVID-19, will go ahead but questions remain over how it will hold the massive sporting event mid-pandemic. The country is currently fighting a fourth wave of coronavirus infections.

"'Why did I aim for the Olympics when the coronavirus happened?' I asked myself," she said, also wondering "who knew the coronavirus pandemic would come at this time?"

. Tokyo, Japan. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Tsubata stretches out during her morning routine training at the gym inside the clinic where she works.

Her feeling of frustration and uncertainty is shared by many athletes globally whose careers have been thrown into limbo, after the pandemic dashed some people's life-long dreams of participating in the global sporting event.

The IOC has a June 29 deadline to wrap up qualifications for this year's Olympics and with the cancelled qualifiers, it now has to allocate about 53 spots in boxing across several regions based on ranking points since 2017.

. Sayama, Japan. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Tsubata wraps her hands before a training session at Tajima boxing gym.

In COVID-ravaged India, the head coach of the country's national boxing team Santiago Nieva also remembers the "heartbreaking moment" when he delivered the news to four boxers.

"You feel like you're taking away their dreams," Nieva said. "They became depressed.... they were empty, felt empty in the head and body."

. Tokorozawa, Japan. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon
. Tokorozawa, Japan. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Left: A photograph shows Tsubata and her friend Naomi Mizumura, also a nurse, taken when they worked at the same hospital.
Right: Tsubata and Mizumura chat at a park.

Tsubata got into boxing about three years ago to lose weight, but her training coaches quickly encouraged her to compete in the sport and she went on to win Japan's national boxing championship for the middleweight division in 2019.

As a nurse and a boxer, she has mixed feelings about whether the Olympics due to start in July should go ahead as cases rise.

"As an athlete, considering fellow athletes waiting for this moment, and especially seeing my chance being taken away, I think the Olympics should happen," she said.

. Sayama, JAPAN. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Tsubata is massaged by a chiropractor after a boxing training session.

Arisa Tsubata, 27, is massaged by a chiropractor after a boxing training session in Iruma, Saitama Prefecture, Japan, April 22, 2021.

But, as a nurse, she said it "might be difficult" for Japan to hold the Olympic Games if the spread of the coronavirus is not contained.

For now, Tsubata is trying to stay positive, and is preparing for her international debut at a tournament in Russia this month.

. Tokyo, Japan. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Tsubata checks her mobile phone.

She says it is too early to think about the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024 and worries she may be too old by then to keep up with the physical strength needed to compete.

"I can't say I am aiming for the next Olympics in Paris, but what I can do is try to keep working hard step by step, at any competitions ahead, small or big," Tsubata said.

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Slideshow

Tsubata shops for her breakfast.
. Tokyo, Japan. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Tsubata shops for her breakfast.

Tsubata eats a banana and has a protein drink for breakfast before starting her shift at the clinic.
. Tokyo, Japan. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Tsubata eats a banana and has a protein drink for breakfast before starting her shift at the clinic.

Tsubata checks the medicine stock with her colleague Ryohei Arakawa.
. Tokyo, Japan. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Tsubata checks the medicine stock with her colleague Ryohei Arakawa.

Tsubata collects gloves for her outpatients during an exercise therapy session she runs at the gym inside the clinic.
. Tokyo, Japan. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Tsubata collects gloves for her outpatients during an exercise therapy session she runs at the gym inside the clinic.

Tsubata reads a book as she travels to her boxing gym on the subway.
. Iruma, Japan. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Tsubata reads a book as she travels to her boxing gym on the subway.

Tsubata and Mizumura have a dinner together at Mizumura's home.
. Tokorozawa, Japan. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Tsubata and Mizumura have a dinner together at Mizumura's home.

Tsubata turns on her car's engine as she leaves Tajima boxing gym after training at night.
. Sayama, Japan. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Tsubata turns on her car's engine as she leaves Tajima boxing gym after training at night.

Tsubata talks to her trainers Kuroki and Okada during a break.
. Sayama, Japan. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Tsubata talks to her trainers Kuroki and Okada during a break.

Tsubata trains with her trainer Masataka Kuroki.
. Sayama, Japan. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Tsubata trains with her trainer Masataka Kuroki.

Tsubata trains with Okada.
. Sayama, Japan. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Tsubata trains with Okada.

Tajima boxing gym is pictured in the night as Tsubata trains.
. Sayama, Japan. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Tajima boxing gym is pictured in the night as Tsubata trains.