Life comes first, sport can wait. This was the collective view of India's top Olympic-bound athletes, including stalwarts such as MC Mary Kom and Saina Nehwal, as they lauded the Tokyo Games' postponement amid the COVID-19 pandemic that has pushed the world into chaos. The quadrennial showpiece, scheduled from July 24 to August 9 in Tokyo, was postponed to no later than summer of 2021 after a telephonic conversation between Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and International Olympic Committee (IOC) chief Thomas Bach on Tuesday. "The situation right now is not good. Life always comes first, everything else can wait. Players' safety is paramount. Everyone who took this decision factored this in. I think it's good for everyone," Mary kom told PTI.

"Now I get more time to prepare, our training plans can be extended. And it's not just for me, it is true for everyone around the world," she added. Saina, also a bronze-winner at the 2012 Games, held a similar view. "Happy that it's postponed even though some of us haven't qualified. We are eager to know what the qualification [process] would be like going ahead," she said. "As an athlete who's played Olympics before I would say it's good as everyone can chill now and not worry about preparations amid a lockdown. We all have to be safe first and then we can think about preparations," she added, referring to the lockdown in India to contain the pandemic.