Somewhere in an anti-COVID parallel universe, where heaving crowds still attend live sport and world-class athletes aren't confined to sanitised bubbles, Angus Moore has just realised his boyhood Olympics dream.
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In that alternative reality, the boy from Canberra Grammar has just rowed for Australia and might even be polishing a newly-minted medal atop the Tokyo podium.
But this version of 2020 has been underpinned by an unprecedented virus. Organisers scrambled to postpone their Games for 12 months in a desperate bid to save the Olympics, and that was the catalyst which confirmed what Moore had subconsciously known since the start of the year.
At just 27 years of age, it was time to draw the curtain on his superb rowing career.
When the virus started wreaking havoc in Australia almost five months ago, it forced Moore off the water and significantly reduced his training capabilities. It also yielded some much-needed thinking time.
"I didn't push the training too hard in that period," Moore said.
"For me, those two months where I was in Canberra with my girlfriend training, I loved it, the fact that I didn't have to go down every day was a blessing.
"I asked myself 'why do you want to go to the Olympics', and I couldn't answer that question any more, which is a little bit sad, but it was an important revelation for me to have."
It was an unexpected but life-changing moment of clarity.
"I couldn't actually answer the question any more," Moore said.
"Why do you go to the supermarket? You need food. Why do you go to the petrol station? You need fuel. Why do you want to go to the Olympics? And the answer was because I always have.
"I don't want to get stuck in my life doing things for the sake of doing things.
"There may be times when I regret this decision but at the end of the day I made the decision on my own terms. I'm glad I've got the conviction to actually make hard decisions when I need to, and that will give me a degree of solace if there are times when I regret it."
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Moore helped Australia's men's eight team to fourth at last year's World Championships, a result which qualified that boat for the Tokyo Games.
He also secured two gold medals at the at the 2014 World Cup in Sydney, but his career highlight came a year earlier, when representing his country at the Henley-on-Thames regatta in the heart of British rowing territory.
"Beating the Brits on their home soil on a Saturday and being able to do that with a lot of mates was pretty special," Moore said.
"There's probably about 100,000 people down the side, basically it's just a big party, everyone's wearing their suits and getting on the piss.
"It's probably the biggest crowd you'll get rowing anywhere in the world, other than the Olympics."
James Buckley
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
