Marathon runner Alexei Pappas had her heart set on running for Greece in the 2020 Olympics, a Greek-American with dual citizenship who had been a two-time All-American at Dartmouth. Then COVID-19 and the Games were wiped out this year.

It was a tough setback, she admitted to the site Inverse about her disappointment while understanding why.

“We athletes are equipped for changes, but this asked for the ultimate adaptation,” she said, the disappointment bigger because she had been training so hard, mixing speedwork, distance runs, strength training and race simulations.

"Once I learned the news, I immediately shifted my focus from final marathon preparations to focusing on base-building slower runs and also more stability and core-building drills," Pappas said.