Lucknow long distance runner, 27-year-old Julie-Anne Staehli, is back home from the Tokyo Olympics and says it was everything she was hoping it would be.
Staehli says she didn't quite make it to the final, but she ran her best on a very hot day and the experience of running in her first Olympics and against the world's top athletes was a real learning curve.
Staehli says, because this was her first Olympics, she had nothing to compare it to, but she says other athletes she spoke with who had been to Rio or London, said it wasn't that different in Tokyo. She adds, it certainly met all of her expectations and she took it all in.
"I really took it all in. Because of the amount of protocols, with testing and stuff like that, we were bubbled within the village and I think that was just really special to still be part of being there with all of the other athletes and all of the other countries and the stadium. It was still really electric."
Staehli points out the next Olympics are only three years away and before that there are two world championships and the Commonwealth Games, so there are lots of opportunities to train and get ready for the next Olympics. She says the Tokyo Olympics prepared her to move on to the next step and she feels now is the time to put her career on hold for a few years and focus on athletics.
But, she adds, she will take the next week off to watch the Olympics. Staehli will again join MWO Sports on CKNX for their show on August 6th airing just after 6 pm on CKNX and CKNX.ca.