Record-setting Olympians stretch careers for games in 2021

Even if it takes an extra year, Nino Salukvadze will still be aiming for an Olympic record.

The Georgian shooter has competed at every Olympics since 1988, where she won a gold medal for the Soviet Union. At the Tokyo Olympics now postponed until 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic she will set a women's record of nine appearances.

She's happy to wait for it.

"We're restructuring my training and there's nothing terrible about that. The main thing is health," Salukvadze told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from her home in the South Caucasus nation.

Salukvadze is one of a host of Olympic veterans taking the extra year in stride.

There's also 37-year-old American hurdler Lolo Jones, who is hoping to return to the track in Tokyo, and Uzbek gymnast Oksana Chusovitina, who has qualified for her eighth Olympics breaking her own record in the sport.

Chusovitina has considered retirement before but chose to carry on. This time around, the 1992 gold medalist said Tokyo will be her last Olympics.

"It's already good that they have postponed. Everything will calm down and everything will be fine, and I think then the Olympics will go ahead as normal," said the 44-year-old Chusovitina, who is training in restricted conditions because of the virus outbreak.

"I want to compete in Tokyo and retire."