THE nightmare for every athlete at these Olympic Games is, after five years of relentless training for this occasion, failing one of their many coronavirus tests, being forced into isolation and missing out on their event.
โIt would be the worst two weeks of your life,โ Galal Yafai tells Boxing News. โYouโd be sitting in there having to watch it on the TV. I donโt even want to think about it.โ
โYou never know nowadays if you get a positive resultโฆ So hopefully everyoneโs okay,โ he added. โHopefully we can just fight.
โWeโre kind of used to [the Covid restrictions]. The last year weโve been not being able to do what we want. Another month of doing it isnโt a big deal for me. I just look at the bigger picture, the Olympic Games, if it all goes well there, itโs life changing.โ
Their Olympic experience will be curtailed. They wonโt get the chance to see Tokyo or hobnob with international superstars and none of their friends or family will be permitted to go to Japan to support. So the task in simple. Get in there, complete the mission and get home. โWeโre just there to fight. Thatโs the only thing we want to do – is just fight. If itโs a boring two weeks and weโre just sitting around in our rooms doing nothing, then so be it. Iโm just thinking about fighting,โ the Birmingham flyweight said. โThatโs the only thing Iโm thinking about. Go there, fight, get what I need to get and get back home.โ
His draw in Tokyo sees him go up against Armeniaโs Koryun Soghomonyan first, but Yafai has beaten him before. โThereโs no easy fights there. Youโre going to have to fight someone in the top 10 for a medal and theyโre all top fighters so Iโve got to be at my best. But Iโve beat the best ones. I beat the Cuban [Yosbany Veitia] who was number one in the world at the time. I beat the number one now, Amit, in the Commonwealth Games final. So I know Iโm up there. Iโve just got to be at my best on the day,โ he says. โI know I can beat them all on my day. Thatโs not me being deluded… I know I can beat that Uzbek [Shakhobidin Zoirov, the reigning Olympic gold medallist] but itโs just on the day. Theyโre all great fighters. Whoever wins a medal at these Olympics, theyโre not just going to win by chance. They are going to have to be good fighters, especially at my weight.
โIโve just got to make sure Iโm at my best. Iโm strong, I know that I can beat them on my day. Iโve just got to go and prove it now.โ
In a talented GB team, Galal Yafai is one of the medal hopes. โItโs finally here. Itโs been a long time coming,โ he adds. โThereโs a lot of top fighters at GB, all the way to Peter McGrail, the two McCormacks, Ben [Whittaker], Chev [Clarke], Frazer [Clarke] and then the girls are great as well. Everyoneโs buzzing now.โ
Read John Dennen’s in depth Olympic preview here