HOUSTON – “I had this mindset that I’m going to be competing in Tokyo in four months, and so having that mindset for the past three years, and then it gets pushed back another year... it’s kind of like, ‘woah,’” said Fuchs.
Ginny Fuchs, like most Olympians, understands why. The shock of the Olympic games actually being pushed back has a deep impact on training and routine for the Episcopal High School graduate, though she also sees the positive.
“You have to refocus in a way,” said Fuchs. “But it also gives me another year to really work on my craft and become the gold medalist that I’m really wanting to become.”
Fuchs decided to make the most of her time off, beginning with a camping trip along with some teammates.
'We were like, ‘maybe this is a good way to get away from everybody, and it’s good social distancing,’ so we just decided to go out and do that for a week and then we came back to Colorado," Fuchs explained.
Training when the Olympic Center is closed can be tricky, but Fuchs has chosen to do a lot of outdoor work.
“We’ll try to do at least some type of upper body or lower body work,” said Fuchs, who also does circuits outside.
“It’s a lot of plyometric exercises like push-ups, dips, jump squats,” explained Fuchs.
Like a lot of athletes, Fuchs is on board with the pandemic creating a time for real skills to show. Without gyms and training facilities open, many athletes are relying on their own motivation and skillset.
“That’s how you know you’re a true athlete — when you know what you need to work on, and you know, ‘I need to start picking up the intensity a little bit,’” explained Fuchs.
This time of isolation has been strange for everyone, but especially for Fuchs, who has been extremely open about her struggle with obsessive-compulsive disorder. For people who live with OCD, not having a routine can be difficult and mentally exhausting.
“The fact that I haven’t obtained that right feeling with my rituals has given me this high state of anxiety for a long time,” said Fuchs.
The LSU grad said she’s coped with it better than she thought she would, but every day is challenging.
“So I’ve been having to deal with that," said Fuchs.
But, much like Fuchs staying positive regarding the Olympic postponement, she is seeing the advantage of working through this.
“It’s been difficult but also kind of a good thing for me because it forces me to get out of my comfort zone," she said.
All Fuchs can do is stay healthy and focus on qualifying.
“They’re saying earliest (qualifying) would be in October, latest December. So sometime between that is when they plan on having our qualifier,” explained Fuchs.
When the time comes, she hopes to make H-Town proud.
“I’ve been wanting to represent America and my hometown Houston watching the Olympics,” said Fuchs.