Video: First modern Olympic Games kicked off 124 years ago on April 6

The sports landscape today has robbed nearly 1,000 athletes of winning an Olympic medal this year — but 124 years ago, someone could walk off the street and win gold

For the fourth time since 1896, the modern olympics have been either postponed or canceled. 

This is a very rare occasion as it's the first time the modern-day Olympics have ever been postponed. The Olympics have been canceled three times since its inception, not taking place in 1916, 1940 and 1944 — all of which coincide with World War I and World War II.

But this occasion, the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo have been suspended until 2021, to begin exactly 364 days after the originally scheduled start.

Less than a week after the decision to suspend the Olympics was made, the International Olympics Committee put out a statement saying that the Games will resume from July 23, 2021 to August, 8 2021 in Tokyo — a welcome sight for all involved.

“The schedule for the games is key to preparing for the games,” Tokyo organizing committee president Yoshiro Mori said. “This will only accelerate our progress.”

With the change in dates of competition, that means that the athletes have to go through their same preparation a year from now. While they all were hoping to reach their peak in the coming months, they must temper down those expectations, reset their minds, and then ramp up competition again.

But that wasn't always the case.

Back in 1896, the modern-day Olympics had its debut — and with that came a totally different type of athlete and preparation.

In a story posted by Sports Illustrated's Mark Bechtel, he tells of how the athlete has changed over the past 100 years of competition — how a guy could walk in off the street and next thing you know, be winning a gold medal in some sport.