Life had taught Lutalo Muhammad to be prepared for anything long before the plug was pulled on the Olympics.
For four years nobody needed tell him to expect the unexpected. He had learned that the hard way.
So when Olympics boss Thomas Bach announced that Tokyo 2020 was postponed, Muhammad did not flinch.
“The right decision was made for the right reasons,” he said. “Still focused on the same goal.”
At least this time he’d had an inkling of what was coming. Not like the 2016 Olympics in Rio, when he realised only when it was too late.
With one second left of the men's -80kg taekwondo final Muhammad led 6-4 against an opponent from a country which had never won an Olympic gold medal.
What happened next is seared in the memory of those who witnessed it.
Not just Cheick Sallah Cisse’s reverse turning kick which caught Muhammad on the side of the head and snatched victory for the Ivory Coast; the post-fight reaction of the devastated Londoner.
"I'm so distraught," he wept into a BBC microphone. "I was so close to becoming Olympic champion and making my dream.
"I don't want to cry but I am so sorry to the people that stayed up to watch. I let them down at the last second. This is so hard.”
Muhammad lived with the pain consoled by the one thought that in Japan this July he could end it. Then Covid-19 struck, adding another year to his sentence.
Only the pandemic, and the fear it continues to cause, has rather redefined success and failure. “This is a matter of life and death,” he said. “We can all see that sport takes a back seat.
“I’ve been back at home in London for the last week in order to be around my family during these difficult times. I will keep looking ahead and focus on what I can do. Keep up my fitness and work towards being in the best condition I can be to achieve my dream of Olympic gold.
“When that opportunity will be I will have to wait and see, but I will make sure I do whatever I can to be ready for it.”
Knowing the strength he took from the support he received post-Rio, Muhammad sees the imperative in offering his now, in these most challenging times.
“People told me when I got back from Rio that because the moment was so raw, so personal, so intimate, even though it was thousands of miles away they felt kind of connected,” he said.
“I was empowered by that goodwill. This a very strange to time to be an athlete at the moment. Whilst my Olympic goal and dream doesn’t change, this is so much bigger than sport and it’s important I do my part.
"This is the reality and it's affecting a lot of people. We have to pray and hope for the best."
Lutalo Muhammad is an ambassador for Worldwide Olympic and Paralympic Partner Bridgestone for their ‘Chase Your Dream, No Matter What’ campaign.
