Mel Marshall<\/strong> insists the safety of athletes will not be jeopardised as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to take its deathly toll across the world.<\/p>\n

Marshall guided Adam Peaty<\/strong> to Olympic gold in the 100m breaststroke gold at Rio 2016 and Luke Greenbank<\/strong> to 200m backstroke bronze at last year\u2019s World Championships but this week she has found herself at the National Centre Loughborough<\/strong> amid a world of uncertainty.<\/p>\n

As it stands, Tokyo 2020 is still scheduled to go ahead as planned from 24 July although that is becoming ever more untenable.<\/p>\n

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Photo Courtesy: Mel Marshall and Adam Peaty<\/p><\/div>\n
Marshall, a two-time Olympian, says that until they hear that is not the case, they will prepare in the most difficult of circumstances but is adamant the safety of the athletes \u2013 and those around them \u2013 is paramount.<\/p>\n
She told Swimming World:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe one clear message we have said at this point is \u2018we\u2019ll give you as much information as we\u2019ve got but we\u2019ve just got to get used to being uncertain\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the one thing we\u2019ve said is \u2018if it\u2019s on, we\u2019re on and until we hear it\u2019s off, we\u2019re on\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the team, the swimmers, the coaches, that\u2019s our mantra at the moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it\u2019s on, we\u2019re on and we\u2019ll try and keep that mantra and prepare in difficult environments the best we can for an event that\u2019s on at this point.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo if that\u2019s what they\u2019re saying, that\u2019s what we\u2019ve got to adhere to at this point but within that we\u2019ll be making sure we take decisions to make sure our athletes are safe and make sure any actions we take don\u2019t jeopardise the nation\u2019s mission to be healthy.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
She added:<\/p>\n
\u201cSport does come second to people\u2019s health, sport does come second to those ventilators, sport does come second to those NHS workers and so it should.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
So too does Marshall praise her athletes as they all look at the bigger picture with the global death toll now having passed 11,000.<\/p>\n
As of Friday night, 177 had died in the UK.<\/p>\n
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Very disappointed but I think we can all agree it was the right call to make and was inevitable. To the athletes who were preparing for this meet, keep your head up! Staying positive in these times is more important than ever \ud83d\udc4a\ud83c\udffc\ud83d\ude80 https:\/\/t.co\/GbqTKWAy2S<\/a><\/p>\n
— Adam Peaty OBE (@adam_peaty) March 17, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n