Tokyo postponement keeping Olympic dreams alive for former William & Mary runner

The postponement of the 2020 Summer Olympics was disappointing and devastating for many athletes, coaches and families. However, for athletes like Elaina Tabb, it’s keeping their Olympic dreams alive.

Elaina Balouris Tabb has always been fast.

“It’s always something I’ve been super passionate about,” she said.

The Pittsburgh native started running nearly 20 years ago, smashing records in middle school, high school and eventually at the College of William and Mary.

“Each level I’ve gotten to, I’ve kind of exceeded my expectations there,” said Tabb.

She’s now on the Boston Athletic Association’s High Performance Team, which is sponsored by Adidas.

“When you’re a competitive runner, the Olympics are the pinnacle of your sport, so it’s always something that I’ve watched and dreamed of,” Tabb said.

She’s been chasing that dream since 2016, missing out on the Olympic Trials by just one second.

Tabb said, “It was a really sad moment for me, but also a huge motivator because I was like ‘I’m in this until 2020, I’m going to run the trials’.”

She will, in fact, run at the trials.

Tabb hit the Olympic trial standard for the track 10k in May of 2019.

“Only 24 women get to go in the 10k, so to be one of those 24 is a huge honor,” Tabb said.

Tabb says the postponement of the summer games was disappointing. However, there is a silver lining because she was training with a hamstring injury.

“It gives me a chance to get stronger and buys me more time to get healthy,” she said.

Since running is something you can do anywhere, she’s taking the impacts of the pandemic in stride.

“I know I have more in me, so it makes me excited and motivated to keep training.

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