A year after calling for a Tokyo Olympics delay, women's pole vault champion Katerina Stefanidi of Greece believes the games should be held this summer — even without fans.

"I think if we have to have the Olympics without spectators, I would prefer that than not having the games at all," she told Kyodo News in an exclusive interview on Saturday. "If we can have the Olympics with some spectators, that will be better of course...for me the worst case scenario would be to completely cancel."

The stance is a marked departure from the 30-year-old Rio de Janeiro Olympic champion's opinion 10 months earlier.