WITH Gwent sport in lockdown, prime focus was on planned summer events with the Olympics the biggest of them all.

The decision was finally made on Tuesday to postpone Tokyo 2020 to next year.

Gwent hopefuls eyeing Japan for the Olympics and Paralympics included boxers Lauren Price and Rosie Eccles, taekwondo fighter Lauren Williams, hockey player Jacob Draper, Charlotte Carey in table tennis, athlete Kyron Duke, archer David Phillips and cyclist James Ball.

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Social distancing restrictions imposed by national governments across the globe have had a huge impact on athletes’ ability to prepare and train for the Games, and they had been crying out for the IOC to end the uncertainty and postpone.

Newport County AFC are still having to play the waiting game with no return to play yet announced by the Football League.

The EFL, Premier League and Professional Footballers’ Association met on Friday to discuss the financial impact of the suspension to the league.

The projected restart is Thursday, April 30, but that is likely to be pushed back again.

“The Premier League, EFL and PFA agreed that difficult decisions will have to be taken in order to mitigate the economic impact of the current suspension of professional football in England and agreed to work together to arrive at shared solutions,” read a statement.

Exiles boss Michael Flynn admitted that the club’s cup heroics in recent seasons have eased their financial worries.

“If we didn’t have those cup runs, we would be really backs-against-the-wall now,” Flynn told BBC Radio Wales Sport. “It would be panic stations all over.

“We’re probably one of the fortunate League Two clubs, but there’s many clubs out there who are going to really struggle.”

The Welsh Rugby Union, who were boosted by chief executive Martyn Phillips shelving plans to leave this summer, praised clubs to their reaction to the season being cancelled with no promotion or relegation.

All clubs have received a £1,000 hardship payment and have been offered advice from the governing body about how they can deal with issues that will arise, such as cost-cutting and reducing bills, cellar management, a bank loan payment holiday and advice on seeking Welsh Government new business support packages.

The Union confirmed that women and girls rugby has also been cancelled, including the competitions that started in March.

The regions are now having to discuss the prospect of pay cuts for players and staff because of the crisis, with several English and Irish sides having already been forced to reduce salaries.

The Abergavenny Festival of Cycling, due to take place in June, was cancelled for the first time in its’ history.

However, organisers are looking to re-arrange dates for the three events that make up the Festival – the Iron Mountain Sportif, the Wales Open Criterium and the Monmouthshire Junior Grand Prix – later in the year.