Coloradan Using 2020 Olympics Postponement To Sharpen Skills

DENVER (CBS4) - Colorado native Jess Thoennes was hoping to spend her summer in Tokyo as part of the U.S. Rowing team for the 2020 Olympic games. But like all Olympic hopefuls, her dreams of going for gold have been put on hold.

"Our coach had said, 'we need to prepare for this,'" Thoennes said of the Olympic postponement. "When the news came out, I read the fact, and I went and did my workout. Just because the timeline changed, doesn't mean the goal changed."

Thoennes, who had been training at the U.S. Rowing training center in Princeton, New Jersey has since moved back to Colorado and is training on an ERG machine in her parents garage.

"I'm very lucky that my father and mother are both very supportive," said Thoennes. "I have a whole weight area. I can squat and deadlift, but I can't get on the water here. I can't row here. I can't do my sport here, and I miss it terribly."

While the postponement of the Olympics means her dream has been delayed, Thoennes is trying to find the bright side of an extra year of training.

"I get an opportunity to get faster," she said. "I have a whole year to get faster now, and I think that's really lucky."