During this era in sports, we have been fortunate to witness a confluence of greatness and longevity in just about every athletic discipline.

We have been spoiled, really.

This period may not come with the societal impact of past ones, but when all the successes are combined and measured, this era can compete with any in sports history.

Over the past month, it has been uplifting to revisit some of those moments and ponder the great champions without the urgency of now obscuring our perspective. But like with everything else we are experiencing amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, it is also a little upsetting because many of these legends are getting way up there in years.

For them, this is no hiatus. The games may be on pause, but the clock keeps ticking. While they have broken records and won plenty, this absence is already threatening their final chapters, and a prolonged one could ruin some of their walk-off dreams.

We have thought about them in isolation, but it is more powerful to put them together. Consider this list of 35-and-over Greatest of All-Time candidates or groundbreaking talents who are working against time: LeBron James, Tiger Woods, Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird and Carli Lloyd. Consider that pitching superstars Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander are in that age bracket, too. Consider that Alex Ovechkin and Megan Rapinoe both turn 35 before the end of the summer. And consider a few younger all-timers who are old for their sports: Simone Biles (23), Rafael Nadal (33) and Novak Djokovic (32).

I could include more, but these are the very best of the best active all-timers.

The threat of the coronavirus is robbing these aging icons of time, a scarce and priceless treasure. In sports, in all of life, the clock is an unrelenting foe. There is rarely enough time. The longer this pandemic lasts, the more aware you should be of how it affects their final acts.

For certain, this is not a top-shelf concern. To the athletes themselves, it probably doesn’t rank all that high. But their pursuit of more glory, while largely inconsequential in the big picture, speaks to a greater theme about the important things we are losing. This is a trivial example. Others have more dire concerns and fears about life not being the same on the other side of this virus.

The larger point is that, although life seems eerily still at the moment, we are not standing in place. We’re not moving, but we are being moved. Rather than wishing for normalcy, it is more pragmatic to contemplate what can be salvaged when this unwelcome shift concludes.

Biles, who has revolutionized gymnastics with her stunning athleticism, skill and tenacity, can provide eloquent insight into her mental struggle.

She was primed to dominate the Olympics for a second time this summer before the 2020 Tokyo Games were postponed for a year. If the Olympics go on as scheduled in 2021, she will be 24. Already well beyond her supposed physical prime, she will have to foil Father Time again. But she’s more worried about the emotional toll.

She’s not just chasing history. She’s attempting to carry USA Gymnastics through the shame of a sex abuse scandal, all while dealing with her distrust of the organization. Now she must carry all of that, in addition to her training, for another year. She admits to crying about the postponement.

“It’s just the mental strain of going in the gym, day in, day out, day after day, putting in that work going toward that goal,” Biles told The Washington Post’s Liz Clarke in a recent interview. “I feel right now we’re kind of emptying our gas tank. I was so ready to have that experience in three months; now it’s pushed back (to) 15 months. That takes a toll on your mind.”

A few days ago, Biles went on Twitter and wrote that she “can’t describe the pressure I be putting on myself.” Athletes on her level don’t like acknowledging pressure, but they all must feel it. It makes me think about James, who had the Los Angeles Lakers in position to make a championship push before the NBA season was interrupted.

If the NBA doesn’t return this summer, James will have other chances to win a fourth title. But at 35 and with his superpowers still intact, this might be his best chance. He has Anthony Davis as his running mate, so that widens the window, but James wants to win it all in Los Angeles as the LeBron we all know: the consensus best player in the league.

Considering how well he cares for his body, he figures to be an all-NBA player for another three to four years, but the best? Professional sports are all about small margins, and James is only a hair better than his elite competition right now.

With every passing month, the reign of King James inches closer to its conclusion. Maybe a long layoff helps him, but there are no guarantees at this stage of his career. And any number of lost games is detrimental to his pursuit of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s scoring record.

A similar thing can be said of Williams, who is stuck on 23 Grand Slam titles.

She doesn’t have to break Margaret Court’s record of 24; she cemented her legacy long ago. But her journey, from teenage phenom to motherhood, tugs at the nation’s heart. There is considerable emotion tied to her pursuit of that record. As her legend grew, she became so open and such a symbol of strength and will. We watch sports to be amazed, and there’s a public yearning to see her break the record. But she turns 39 in five months.

Federer turns 39 a month earlier. And then there’s Brady, who will be 43 by the time he takes the field for his new team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. (That’s still weird to say.) He’s as motivated as anyone to clarify his singular greatness after being synonymous with coach Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots’ dynasty for 20 years.

But as Brady tries to learn a new team in isolation, he is another who must wonder: Is there enough time? How long is this self-isolation going to last? How much of the 2020 sports calendar will it wipe out? And will that ruin any last bursts of excellence these great champions are still capable of providing?

The hope is that the pause ends in time for sports to rev up this summer. If that’s the case, perhaps the unintended break will be a good thing for these aging icons. But so much is unknown, including their access to training and their desire to keep pushing after this experience. It’s impossible to be sure.

We can’t turn on the television right now without being reminded of their greatness. It’s fun to sit back and reflect on what they have done while they’re still doing it. But then we must look at the clock, which keeps ticking regardless of whether they’re playing.

There is no way to get back that time. This phenomenal era is still melting toward a difficult, inevitable ending.

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