Covid-19’s impact on the Olympics has been welcomed by Trinidad and Tobago quarter-miler Dwight St Hillaire. The global pandemic forced postponement of the Tokyo Games by a full year.

“More time to get better,” St Hillaire told the Express, “stronger, faster, smarter.”

Just 22, St Hillaire seems set for a bright future in the sport. Two years ago, he clocked a personal best 44.55 seconds to jump into sixth spot on T&T’s all-time men’s 400 metres performance list. The top five are national record holder Machel Cedenio (44.01), Ian Morris (44.21), Deon Lendore (44.36), Lalonde Gordon (44.52) and Renny Quow (44.53).

St Hillaire has not come close to replicating the form that saw him clock 44.55, 45.05 and 45.08 twice in May 2018. His best clocking since that purple patch was 45.47 in May 2019.

Forced to take an extended break from competition because of the coronavirus outbreak, St Hillaire might well have found the formula to recapture the fire of 2018 – rest and recharge.

The University of Kentucky student last competed on February 29, this year, getting home in an indoor best 46.58 seconds for sixth spot in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Indoor Championship 400 finals. He has since called off his entire outdoor campaign.

“My 2020 season has been officially over since March when I returned to Tobago. Covid-19 completely suspended my regular training activities, so I had to rely on home workouts and such to keep in shape.”

The easing of restrictions here in T&T, last month, impacted positively on St Hillaire’s training programme.

“I am now able to resume going to gym.”

St Hillaire said his studies were not affected by Covid-19.

“Adjustments had to be made to move all my courses online. But other than that, my academic performance and attitude did not change.”