SANDERS Tyler

General
BACK INJURY
In 2018 he began suffering from a long-term back injury. He says he is uncertain whether the one-year postponement of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo due to the COVID-19 pandemic will be beneficial to his chances of competing at the Games in the best physical condition. "When I was younger I used to make plans and schedule things and have dreams and pursue those dreams. With my injury, it's been different, it's more of a day-to-day kind of thing. I definitely have the ambition of going to Tokyo [Olympic Games] and winning a medal, but beyond that I'm not really sure. I hope my career isn't over and I'll keep trying things, but the reality of my injury is that there's no remedy for it, it's a very long-term thing. I have to keep my quality of life in the back of my mind when I make a decision and playing at the highest level puts a lot of burden on my body as I have a compromised spine. I see it [the postponement] as a two-sided thing. I need to be very meticulous with my back and the Games being delayed a year gives me more time to do that without rushing anything. I can really focus on making sure that my body is released in a certain way. But with a long-term major injury there's always the risk of a setback. I'm more relaxed by the fact that there's an extra year and that I can take good care of my body, but who knows what's going to happen during this preparation phase, which is now longer?" (fivb.com, 05 May 2020)