“Up until the start of lockdown, I was working really hard to try and get a place in the Team GB squad for the Tokyo Paralympics. Obviously, things are quite different now and we’re all waiting to see what happens really.”
Chinley’s Katie Toft is remarkably upbeat and philosophical considering her plans for Paralympic glory in 2020 have completely changed. Toft has experienced a whirlwind of success in the past couple of years resulting in her becoming a five-time para-cycling world champion in the C1 class.
All looked set for Toft to carry this success on into 2020 and ensure qualification for the Paralympic Games in Tokyo later this year. Of course, like for every sportsperson, Toft’s plans for the year have changed considerably due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Paralympics have now been delayed till next year with the very real possibility that the Games still might not take place whatsoever.
She said: “In the week that lockdown started, I was supposed to start racing so I just carried on with my training to be honest. Generally throughout lockdown, I’ve been quite motivated. For me, I’ve had the opportunity to carry on training which has made life feel quite normal – it’s helped a lot!
“For me, the biggest difference was not being able to go to the gym in Derby but the support I’ve had from Derbyshire Institute of Sport has been brilliant. They’ve made sure that I’ve worked really, really hard and I’ve been given the opportunity to work on my weaknesses, so having that group of people around me has helped.
"They know me really, really well and have got me to use this time to focus on weaknesses. So there were pros and cons for me while lockdown was in place.”
Despite the setback of having to wait for another year for the chance to qualify for the Paralympics, Toft has been able to deal positively and professionally with the drastic change in circumstances and is certainly making the most of the extra time she now has available to prepare for the Tokyo games.
“The way we’ve always approached my training is to do it one block at a time. We obviously have big goals and we know what we want to do – but we focus just on the next day and the next week, so that has ended up being really useful. At the very start of lockdown, we didn’t really know how that was going to look…it was just a case of constantly keeping up to date with what was going on and following the guidance.”
With the recent announcement that gyms and leisure centres can re-open, more and more sports are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for what can plans can be made for competitive action to return.
Whilst full normality is still some way off and competing in front of a big crowd is highly unlikely for the rest of this year and possibly even next year, Toft has revealed that para-cycling events are now pencilled in but still cannot have confirmed dates just yet.
“It is still a little bit uncertain. Obviously, I want to get back to racing as soon as possible. I’ve been doing as much as I can in training to replicate those efforts. We’ve not got any firm dates yet for big races like the Nationals. We know when they might be but nothing is set in stone currently, so the key thing now is just be ready to go and that’s all you can do.”
At the end of the interview, Toft made it clear to Derbyshire Media Company that her long-term goal is to become a gold medallist at the Paralympic Games.
“Yeah! I’d love to become a Paralympic gold medallist! I’m not going to beat around the bush – I think everyone knows I’d love to go to the Paralympic Games. We just keep working to see if I get selected.
"Anything can happen in sport, it’s what we sign up for – but it’s all good fun! I have to stop myself quite a lot, especially when road racing, and think ‘wow’. I’m so lucky to ride where I do and to have the support that I get. It’s all fun and games!”
You can listen to Derbyshire Media Company’s full interview with Katie Toft, which includes more detail about how important a role with Derbyshire Institute of Sport has played in her career and how she got started with para-cycling, via the following link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5YHymwzpK2nRMU4WyxLEo4
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