For many athletes, the COVID-19 pandemic has had immense implications on their ability to compete and ultimately try and find their way to this summer’s Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo. Joshua Cassidy is no exception. While Cassidy had achieved the necessary qualification performance prior to the pandemic, the selection process for the Paralympic Games remains a fluid one, with Athletics Canada not nominating the team until July 21.
The Canadian Paralympic Committee will make the final declaration of team members on July 29th based on quota spots determined by the International Paralympic Committee.
For the three-time Paralympian, his recent trip to Switzerland for the Swiss Racing series marked just his second competitive opportunity since the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships and a chance to improve upon his qualification marks from 2019. While recognizing the risk of travel, Cassidy spoke about not wanting to have any regrets with respect to the Tokyo Games on video posted to Facebook earlier this month. “I obviously can’t just sit back and hope everything works out,” he said in reference to the possibility of his pre-pandemic marks qualifying him to the Games.
Across the set of meets in Nottwil and Arbon, the defending Canadian champion over 800, 1500, and 5000 metres was consistent in his performances – finishing between fifth and tenth in each competition. Cassidy’s fastest performance came in the 800 metres in Arbon last weekend where he rolled to a time of 1:34.83, a half second behind his best ranked performance in the event from 2019. The performance placed him sixth in the near global final like field.
While the weather was on occasion less than ideal for producing fast times, Cassidy was happy to get back on the track and race. “You monitor numbers in training to gauge where you are at, but it doesn’t compare to high level international competition,” he said in a post on Instagram yesterday. “It was good to just be in the pack, sharpen up, see where others are at, have some tactical races.”
While disappointed to not reach the podium on his Swiss Tour, Cassidy focused on the positives. “Definitely good to see where work needs to be done. Looking forward to the summer.”