Olympics Postponed: Georgia Bulldogs Miss Out Due to COVID-19 Outbreak

The 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics Games have been postponed amid the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. Several past and present Georgia Bulldogs are affected.

Never in the history of the Olympic Games had they been canceled or postponed save for during times of World War. That all changed today as it was announced that the 2020 Summer Olympics, held in Tokyo, Japan would be postponed until 2021 due to the worldwide outbreak of COVID-19.

With that being said, a slew of former and current members of the UGA Swim and Dive team had a shot at qualifying for this year’s Olympics and will have to wait another year to try and qualify.

One of the most decorated members of that impressive list, Allison Schmitt, earned two medals during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She was part of the team that took Gold in the 4x200m freestyle relay as well as the team that took Silver in the 4x100m freestyle relay.

There are four former Bulldogs hoping for another shot at Gold who medaled silver or better in 2016 including Allison Schmitt, Olivia Smoliga, Gunnar Bentz and Chase Kalisz. The two current Bulldogs, Freida Lim (platform diving) and Javier Acevedo (100m/200m backstroke) we’re set to qualify for teams Singapore and Canada respectively.

With the year-long postponement of the games, it will be interesting to see where these athletes end up with all current training in both Athens and Tempe, Arizona being suspended indefinitely due to the virus. If the now 2021 Olympic Games are anything like 2016’s, on podiums all across swim and dive will be a bunch of past and present Georgia athletes.

Full list of Potential Bulldog Olympians

Current Student-Athletes

• Javier Acevedo: 100m/200m Backstroke (Canada)
• Freida Lim: Platform diving (Singapore)

Former Student-Athletes

• Gunnar Bentz: 200m/400m IM (USA)
• Nic Fink: 100m/200m Breaststroke (USA)
• Chase Kalisz: 400m IM (USA)
• Megan Kingsley: 200m Butterfly/ 400m IM (USA)
• Jay Litherland: 200m/400m IM (USA)
• Melanie Margalis: 200m IM / relays (USA)
• Olivia Smoliga: 100m Backstroke (USA)
• Hali Flickinger: 100m/200m butterfly / 400m IM (USA)
• Allison Schmitt: 200m/400m freestyle / relays (USA)

You can follow us for future coverage by clicking "Follow" on the top righthand corner of the page. Also, be sure to like us on Facebook @BulldogMaven & follow us on Twitter at @BulldogsSI.