REFLECTIONS
Ollie Wynne-Griffith
GREAT BRITAIN
EVENT M8+
PLACING BRONZE
72 hours before flying to Tokyo I received a positive Covid-19 PCR test.
You only realise how hard you've worked for something when it’s about to be taken away.
Fear and sadness hit me at the idea of not going with my crewmates to the Olympics; it was a truly scary moment. That week the whole team had been PCR tested to their eyeballs – and every other result else had come back negative.
When I saw the result, my stomach hit the floor at a rate of knots. It came via my phone. I couldn’t speak so I handed my phone to our coach, Steve Trapmore, and left the room.
While Steve read the result. I did laps of the car park; just pacing and breathing.
“Conditions were somewhat biblical and I'm talking Old Testament.
I remember arriving at the course and thinking equipment failure today means my Olympic dream is over.”