Thunder Bay Olympic hopeful back to training after cancellation of Tokyo Games

Skateboarding was set to make its debut at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics this summer, and Thunder Bay's Adam Hopkins, who is the top male park-skateboarder in Canada, had hopes to be there.

Hopkins was seeking a nomination from World Skate, the governing body for the sport, before the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games were cancelled on Tuesday due to the COVID-19 virus.

"At that point it was a bit more of a relief than anything because everything was just getting cancelled... all the qualifying events were getting cancelled and we were in a really tight time restraint as far as the months leading up to the end of the season," Hopkins said in an interview with CBC.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said Tuesday that the Tokyo Games "must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020, but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community."

Hopkins said while the decision serves as a setback, he plans to make use of the extra time to ensure he qualifies for the Games once they are rescheduled.

"I had a couple of injuries throughout the past couple years as well, so it's just like a bonus year for me," he said. "It's not concerning me too much but skateboarding was also still within the qualification period...there's other sports from my understanding that are already done their qualifications. So for those athletes I think it's a completely different story."

All athletes who had qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics will keep their spots for the Games next year following their postponement due to the coronavirus pandemic, the IOC said on Friday.

While continuing with training is top of mind for Hopkins, he said it's been harder to do because of the pandemic.

"You kind of skate in isolation, like skate backyard ramps or spots like that...with weather getting better it's making it a bit easier whereas in the winter you're kind of stuck," he added.

Hopkins grew up in Thunder Bay before moving to Canada's west coast to pursue his skateboarding career. If he's able, he hopes to return to home this summer to lead some workshops at the skateboarding park he helped create at the northwestern Ontario city's waterfront. 

It "would be pretty fun," he said. "It does open up that window. I've always wanted to do some lessons at the skate park there."