By Nike Pedone/Broadcast version by Mary Schuermann Kuhlman
Reporting for the Kent State-Ohio News Connection Collaboration

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Darke County native Clayton Murphy, a bronze medalist in the 2016 Summer Olympics, was starting to prepare for this summer's games when he woke up to a few text messages confirming the rumblings he was hearing: The 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics had officially been postponed.

Now Murphy and several other Ohio-born Olympic hopefuls have to put their dream of competing on the world's biggest stage on hold at least until the end of July 2021.

This is the first time the Olympics ever have been delayed or cancelled for something other than war, as they were in 1916, 1940 and 1944. More recently, President Jimmy Carter decided that Team USA would boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics that were being hosted in Moscow to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

On March 24, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the International Olympic Committee announced an agreement to postpone this summer's games as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Olympics "must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community," the IOC and the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee said in a joint statement.

The decision came two weeks after the pandemic caused sporting leagues such as the National Basketball Association, National Collegiate Athletics Association and Major League Baseball to enter a hiatus. Additionally, South African Olympic swimmer Cameron van der Burgh tested positive for the virus, sharing the severity of his symptoms on Twitter.

Discus thrower Reggie Jagers III, a native of Solon, won the gold medal at the 2017 Summer Universiade and a bronze medal at the 2019 Pan American Games. Currently living in San Diego at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, the Kent State University alumnus said he is happy that the games will be rescheduled.

"It's better that the Games are still going to go on and there's still going to be some type of season this year," Jagers said.

Murphy said the decision to delay the Olympics came much sooner than he expected, but he was glad the IOC gave the athletes some direction and clarity.

"We kind of knew something was coming," Murphy said. "It was more of a relief than anything, knowing they came to a decision and we knew what was going on."

Jagers echoed those comments, saying that it was important the athletes have been given clarity on a future date to focus on their training. For the 25-year-old thrower, the delay means another full year of preparation before he can fulfill his long-term dream. On his Instagram page, Jagers compared it to cooking a steak on low heat, as the process takes a while for a great reward.

"I just want to make sure I'm ready for 2021 when it comes around, that I'm ready to make the Olympic team," Jagers said. "I get to really make sure I'm doing the little things day in and day out."

In the 2016 Summer Olympics, Murphy brought a bronze medal back home to his native Greenville, Ohio, in the 800-meter run. Earlier this March, Murphy was rehabbing a minor injury, mostly swimming and biking in order to work his way up to being able to run distances pain-free.

The week of the postponement, he was planning to start running again in preparation for the Olympic trials, which were set to begin on June 19 and have also likely been delayed.

When the coronavirus pandemic was beginning to escalate, and cities were starting to shut down, Murphy, who is currently living in Oregon, could no longer use some of the facilities he needed to get back into competition form.

"Where I was at with everything was kind of scary because I was in a spot where they started closing gyms and limiting things," Murphy said. "I was pretty reliant on that to keep my training going, and at the time the Olympics hadn't been postponed."

Murphy made an order with Dick's Sporting Goods, investing in some home gym equipment including a stationary bike, a medicine ball and some Olympic-style weights to accompany the treadmill he already has at home. Now, he feels less pressure to rush back from his injury, and can comfortably ease his way back into more intense workouts.

"I pretty much made a home gym for myself," Murphy said. "I really don't have to leave my house other than getting out to get fresh air, go on walks, take the dogs out on walks."

This summer, Murphy and his wife, Olympian Ariana Washington, plan to move back to Ohio, where he will reunite with University of Akron men's distance and cross-country coach Lee LaBadie, who helped mold Murphy for his 2016 bronze medal run in Rio, making him the first U.S. medalist in the 800-meter run in 24 years.

"With the season being postponed or pushed back into the late summer or fall, it makes our move a little bit easier, a little less stressful," Murphy said.

LaBadie stressed that this year's postponement won't make too much of a difference for the 25- year-old Murphy, as he won't have to wait four long years to compete again like the athletes in 1980.

"This year's postponement can't be as bad for the 2021 Olympics as it was for the 1980 Olympics," LaBadie said. "They trained all their life for that, and it was taken away for them."

When the world finally is at a point where the Olympics are considered safe enough to be hosted, Murphy and Jagers hope the games take place as soon as possible. They believe they can serve as an uplifting event for people to look forward to in these uncertain times.

"I think it's going to be a really special opportunity for the first time for the world to come together and really compete," Murphy said. "It could be something that can bring a positive aspect and some positive vibes for some people."


This collaboration is produced in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.




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North Dakota's June 11 primary is inching closer and those running for legislative seats are trying to win over voters, including Native American candidates who are part of a movement energized by newly drawn political boundaries.

The organization North Dakota Native Vote said there are seven candidates with Indigenous roots seeking spots in the Legislature. Most are running in District 9, which was recently updated to reflect representation needs for two Native American tribes.

Natasha Gourd, a board member of North Dakota Native Vote, described them as a good mixture of candidates coming from both reservations in the area, with some running as Democrats and others as Republicans.

"We've seen an upturn in participation and just getting leadership development through Native candidates," Gourd observed.

The election wave comes after the state saw 10 Native candidates in legislative races two years ago. For her group, Gourd acknowledged the boost can be tricky because they cannot endorse everyone running. But she noted having greater assurances the areas will be represented by people from their community -- no matter if they have a different stance on certain issues -- is still a positive.

Gourd added trying to build on the momentum is also important for off-reservation districts.

"What they do at the state level, regardless of Native American people in North Dakota (being part of) federally recognized tribes, it does affect us," Gourd pointed out. "Most Natives in North Dakota do live off the reservation, so it does affect our populations."

Gourd stressed they need more Native voices at the state level speaking out about priorities within education, the housing crisis, energy issues and health care. She hopes the positive trends they're seeing inspire more civic participation among other racial and ethnic groups trying to get a seat at the policy table in North Dakota.

A new poll finds a near 20-year low in the number of voters who say they have a high interest in the 2024 election, with a majority saying they hold negative views of both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. A group of Arizona elections officials and experts recently gathered to discuss the growing discontent with the state's current electoral landscape.

Stephen Richer, Maricopa County Recorder, said that if politicians are what he calls "single-minded seekers of re-election," he contends the state should change the political incentive structure.

"And if those incentives will change, then maybe we will be talking about more things in the Arizona Voter's Agenda and less things that are currently right now incentivized by what I still believe to be a minority, but a very passionate, very loud, and a minority that is definitely committed to acting on those issues," he said.

Richer added it is important to remember that despite Independent and unaffiliated voters being able to participate in the July 30th statewide primary, they were excluded from the state's March Presidential Preference Election, and that has caught the eye of some in the state. The bipartisan group Make Elections Fair Arizona is pushing for open primaries, but proponents of closed primaries believe they're crucial to maintaining the integrity of party ideals.

Amanda Burke, executive vice president with the non-partisan, nonprofit organization Center for the Future of Arizona, said more than half of unaffiliated voters do not feel they have leaders or candidates running who speak to the issues and causes they care about. She contends that then translates to who decides to show up at the ballot box and vote, and encourages Arizonans to imagine a different primary system if they want different outcomes.

"Otherwise we are going to continue to have some more outcomes in terms of people who are incentivized to speak to a small percentage of their base on either side who are really not representative of the larger views," she explained.

The Grand Canyon State allows voter-initiated amendments to the state constitution, but the Arizona Require Partisan Primary Elections Amendment would add the state's current primary practice to the state constitution, prohibiting future changes without another constitutional amendment. Make Elections Fair Arizona is still collecting signatures to get its measure on the November ballot.


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Wisconsin women have made progress in closing gaps when it comes to being elected to public office.

But some voices worry the movement might slow down as candidates see increasing levels of threats and harassment.

The Brennan Center for Justice recently issued findings that detail the threatening behavior those in the political arena are experiencing now.

Women were three to four times as likely as men to experience abuse targeting their gender.

Erin Vilardi, CEO and founder of the advocacy and assistance group Vote Run Lead, said this creates more unfairness in areas such as resource planning for a campaign.

"We see women candidates and incumbents right now having to pay for security," said Vilardi, "having to put in their budgets, in their campaign funds, in their line-items for their campaigns a security detail."

And Vilardi said because of the worsening climate, the threats are extending to almost all other candidates, including conservative white men.

She and other researchers called on party leaders to strongly condemn political violence. They also recommend that each state implement stronger protection for officeholders.

Vilardi said it's not just women candidates and incumbents having to deal with this behavior. Women working as top aides and political journalists are subject to more hateful rhetoric these days.

"This is something that permeates women in politics," said Vilardi, "not just for the folks that are stepping up to lead but for the ecosystem of women around them."

And if more women decide not to run or seek re-election as a result, Vilardi said this means there will be fewer opportunities for gender equality in leadership positions in state legislatures and Congress.

She urged constituents to send messages of support to women officeholders as they weigh these challenges and their political futures.

Support for this reporting was provided by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.



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