Charlotte Carey has been on the Table Tennis circuit since her first Commonwealth Games at the age of 14 in 2010. 11 years on Carey is attempting to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics despite Covid-19 disruptions.
The Wales number one was recently named alongside England table tennis trio, Liam Pitchford, Paul Drinkhall, and Tin-Tin Ho to take part in the European Qualifying tournament having missed out on team qualification back in 2020.
The qualifiers were due to take place next month in Lisbon but have been further postponed.
“The qualifier has been postponed until April now, but it’s a bit more difficult than usual. Normally I’d play events leading up to it in preparation but with no events on that’s difficult!
“We have to get there a few days before the event to be tested and they’ll be played in a bubble system”.
Carey has found the qualifying experience under Covid extremely difficult in comparison to previous attempts.
“It’s been tough to do anything during COVID really. Even training as normal at times has been difficult when there’s been lockdowns and waiting for the heads up from governing bodies.
“One thing I’m taking from it is everyone is in the same difficult position.”
The Wales number one is relishing being back in Portugal to train in preparation for the tournament and praised the countries Covid laws.
“I’ve been lucky enough to be able to train at my Portuguese club in the Azores. By law you have to arrive with a negative PCR test and then after a week on the island you have to take another one.
“Because of that everything is pretty much normal here and there’s hardly any cases so I can train as normal. No one uses the same balls and every surface is disinfected after using it.”
Since the delay of the Olympics and the possible change in the Table Tennis season window, there is no rest time for the young player, desperately trying to qualify for the Olympics.
Carey has featured at every Commonwealth Games since 2010 but has narrowly missed out on Olympic qualifications in both 2012 and 2016.
“Normally I maybe take 2 weeks rest in the summer but obviously that will change now with trying to qualify and prepare for any events.
Carey has continued to train religiously all the way through different lockdowns to be prepared for any tournament that comes her way, in her bid to become the first welsh table tennis player at an Olympic Games.
“I was at home Christmas time and sport Wales helped us get dispensation letters so we were able to train in Sport Wales National Centre.
“I’m just going to try and go there, enjoy playing my game and try to play my best and hopefully qualify.”
Stephen Jenkins, Table Tennis Wales coach applauded Charlotte’s commitment during 2020. In an interview with Table Tennis Wales he said,
“It’s a fantastic opportunity for Charlotte to compete against the European and World’s best. Charlotte has been so dedicated during a difficult 2020 period and has earned herself a chance to qualify.”
Carey is relishing every opportunity that comes her way in order to qualify.
One thought on “Wales Table Tennis Number One Charlotte Carey on qualifying for the Olympics”