The gymnast is a teenager and she tested positive during her pre-Tokyo Olympic training camp in the city of Inzai.
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The organizers of the upcoming Tokyo Olympics have been hit with yet another COVID scare, mere days ahead of the scheduled commencement of the world’s largest sporting event. A female gymnast from the United States has tested positive for the virus, officials confirmed on Monday. The gymnast is a teenager and she tested positive during her pre-Tokyo Olympic training camp in the city of Inzai, Chiba Prefecture. A few days ago, two new cases were reported and both the people were residing at the Games village at the time. It seems like the virus fears that were so rife for over a month ahead of The Games were not unfounded after all. The organizers will now have a huge task on their hands to ensure a smooth and safe Olympics.
The athlete’s identity has been withheld, possibly on request, by the host city of the training camp, according to the Japanese news outlet Kyodo. The gymnast was quickly sent to isolation and she will now have to undergo quarantine measures for a couple of weeks at least. Another gymnast, who was reportedly in close contact with the one who tested positive, has also been isolated.
The COVID-19 positive report of the teenage gymnast was confirmed on Monday after a second test at a hospital in the city. Currently, she is suspected to have contracted the virus on Sunday. That would mean that she had the freedom to move around the training camp and the hotel for a whole day while she was infected, and that could very well spell immense trouble for the US gymnastics team.
The report also said that a team of 10 US gymnasts had arrived in the city on Thursday and, since then, have been undergoing daily screening. They only went out for training from the hotel using a designated bus as per the city.
The problem of athletes contracting the virus is something that several had expected, and those fears have been building for months now. The International Olympic Committee (IOC), however, was adamant that they had safety measures and plans in place should such situations arise. However, cases have been growing gradually in the past few days.
Earlier in the day, a Czech beach volleyball player tested positive for Covid-19 at the Olympic Village in Tokyo. There have also been three more confirmed cases of the virus amongst athletes that were reported on Sunday. Two members of the South African football team had also tested positive for the virus on the same day.
As a result, the entire South African men’s team was forced to miss a practice session after the positive cases emerged. They face the hosts, Japan, in their opening game of the men’s football event at the Games on July 22.
All these cases are being reported as the first batch of the Indian Olympics contingent landed in Tokyo. The 88-member team landed in the Japanese capital on Sunday after they received a rousing send-off from New Delhi on the same day.
