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    Forces Beyond Their Control Dash Dreams Of U.S. Olympic Athletes — Then And Now

    The Tokyo Games was postponed until July, 2021 due to COVID-19, forcing thousands of athletes to re-order their training schedules. Those athletes share a bond with U.S. Olympians 40 years ago.
    by Tom Goldman Jul 24, 2020 5 minutes
    U.S. wrestler Frank Molinaro (red) battles Italy's Frank Chamizo Marquez in the 65-kg (143 pound) bronze medal bout at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janiero. Molinaro, who lost to Marquez, recently retired from the sport when the 2020 Olympics were postponed for a year because of the coronavirus outbreak.

    The Summer Olympics in Tokyo were supposed to start Friday.

    The Games were, of course, postponed until next July because of the coronavirus outbreak. It forced thousands of athletes to pause and re-order their training schedules.

    But some decided a year was too long to wait.

    And now those athletes share a bond with U.S. Olympians 40 years ago. Their dreams also ended because of factors they couldn't control, when the U.S. boycotted the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.

    A career cut short

    Wrestler Frank Molinaro, 31, was ready for Tokyo.

    "Y'know I felt like I was firing on all cylinders," he said, "I felt the same way in 2016."

    That's when the compact, muscular Molinaro in the 143-lb weight class, and almost won a bronze medal at the Summer Games in Rio de Janiero.

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