Honoured Master of Sports in Judo Yakov Hamo told how the Covid-19 pandemic affected his life.

“The pandemic affected us emotionally, due to quarantine we trained at half strength. Fewer trips, the Olympic Games were postponed, everything has changed a lot”, - he said.

Yakov said that he had contracted the coronavirus and did not train for a long time.

“When I fell ill, I was under quarantine for two weeks, I didn't train, it took a lot out of me. It became clear that I had pneumonia. Therefore, I had been recovering for a long time”, - the athlete added.

Head coach of the national team of Ukraine in judo Vitaliy Dubrova said that they had not competed for 9 months.

“Of course, COVID influenced competitive practice, training practice, because there was a big break - there were no competitions for more than 9 months. And at first, it was not easy to adapt, because in March-April the strict quarantine had started, we trained once a day, only the main athletes for an hour and a half. But a person can adapt to everything - we have adapted, and now we train”, - said the national team coach.

He noted that there was an outbreak of the disease in the team, but everyone trained individually.

"We had such an outbreak that a large number of sportsmen fell ill at the same time. We self-isolated for two weeks and trained individually: on assignment, by phone, on the street”, - said Vitaly Dubrova.

Vice-president of the Crimean Football Association Oleg Komunyar said that the team had to adapt to the new conditions.

"Tavriya had to adapt to the new conditions of the competition, and we found ourselves in a situation where you can't let fans into the stadium, it's a new rule of the competition”, - he said.

He added that in October, the entire team contracted the coronavirus and was in quarantine.

“In October, when the whole team and coaching staff fell ill, we were quarantined. There was a mandatory test a few days before the game. Everything went smoothly, without any complications, our team had recovered and started playing football”, - said the vice-president of the Crimean Football Association.

Sports commentator Sergey Glazyrin told Suspilne Crimea that not only athletes but also coaches and journalists had to adjust to the new realities.

“Covid has had a significant impact on the athletes themselves and all those who are involved in sports. The coaches had to adapt to new realities, to train in the fresh air. If we remember the first lockdown, when the halls closed, two programs were developed. Unfortunately, athletes get used to a new atmosphere, to empty stands. As for journalists and workers in this field, we had to watch more on the Internet”, - he said.