PENALTY

Also worth a moment of lamenting are those who have to serve out suspensions over doping offenses.

Men's 100m world champion Christian Coleman was banned for two years last October, as Athletics Integrity Unit found him three violations of doping control rules.

The American sprinter had his ban reduced to 18 months after appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). But the suspension won't expire until November, meaning he still could not compete in Tokyo this summer.

World and Olympic champion Sun Yang's hopes of competing at the Tokyo Games have been ended after the CAS reduced the Chinese swimmer's ban for doping violations to four years and three months from eight years.

Sun was banned after he and members of his entourage were found to have smashed vials containing blood samples taken at an out-of-competition test in September 2018.

Due to three violations of whereabouts rules in a one-year period, Olympic long jump silver medalist Luvo Manyonga from South Africa was banned for four years in June.

It was the 30-year-old Manyonga's second doping case, thus leading to doubling the usual two-year ban for whereabouts violations.

Starting from December 23, 2020, Manyonga's ban runs into the end of 2024, meaning he will miss the next two Summer Games in Tokyo and Paris.

Another track and field star unable to feature in Tokyo is Elijah Manangoi from Kenya. The 2017 men's 1,500m world champion missed three tests within less than half a year and has been banned through December 2021.

While some stars will be missing from Tokyo, but when the cauldron is ignited at the opening ceremony on July 23, there will be a new generation of athletes eyeing to take over the mantle.