Former Albury athlete Ellie Pashley (nee O'Kane) has vowed to continue her Olympic dream.
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The International Olympic Commitee decided last week to postpone the Summer Games for 12 months due to the coronavirus crisis.
Border-raised Pashley, who left the region around a decade ago after completing her physiotherapy studies, is a leading contender for the marathon and 10,000m at Tokyo, which is now scheduled to start on July 23, 2021.
The 31-year-old had qualifying times in both events, but given the Australian Track and Field Championships, the final selection event, were recently cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Pashley still has to win her spot.
"It's not worth ditching all the training we've done to give up on it yet," she said from her base near Torquay.
"It's a weird feeling, you build it up in your mind that it's going to be a set date and a certain time and you try and get yourself in peak condition for that, but it was the right decision (to postpone).
"We're hoping that the times that we've already run will still count."
Pashley has a personal best of 31 minutes and 18 seconds over 10kms and is currently ranked No.19 in the world.
Her PB over the 42.2kms is two hours and 26 minutes, well inside the 2:29:30 qualifier.
"I really wanted to do the marathon, but in the 10k I was the only one with the time, so that was probably the safer one, whereas in the marathon there's four of us with the (qualifying) time and I was ranked third," Pashley said.
"I'll try for the marathon, but the 10k is another option."
Pashley will battle Sinead Diver, Lisa Weightman and Milly Clark for the three available spots, while two-time Olympian Jess Trengove, who had a baby late last year, and a handful of fringe contenders are also potential Tokyo representatives.
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Unable to work as a physio due to the coronavirus, Pashley has also toned down her training.
"I was in the middle of a marathon block for London this month, but I stopped doing that once we found out, I'll keep the mileage a little bit lower, just to stay healthy."
