Our goal hasn't changed despite postponement of Tokyo Olympics: Shihori Oikawa

Japan women's hockey team defender Shihori Oikawa said although the 2020 Tokyo Olympics has been postponed, her team's goal has not changed and will use this one-year time period to prepare for the gold medal in the event.

"Our goal has not changed, and it is the [Olympic] gold medal. We take positively that the preparation period for another year has been extended toward that goal. Each athlete also organises their own mentality and works again with new feelings," International Hockey Federation's (FIH) official website quoted Oikawa as saying.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Monday announced that the Tokyo Olympics 2020 will take place from July 23 to August 8 next year while the Paralympics games will be held from August 24 to September 5, 2021.

Earlier, the Tokyo Olympic Games were slated to be held from July 24 to August 9 and the Paralympic Games were scheduled to be held from August 25 to September 6 this year. However, the coronavirus pandemic forced the postponement of the event.

Oikawa further stated: Hockey is still a smaller sport in Japan. This one year is a period in which we [as a team] can improve our power. I think that having a lot of preparation time due to the influence of the coronavirus, it is our mission to promote hockey in Japan if we can achieve good results. I want to focus on the results.