Olympic champion Kyle Chalmers wary of Tokyo Olympics over Covid fears

Australian swimmer Kyle Chalmers said that he was a bit worried about the prospect of being in Japan for the upcoming Olympic Games due to the coronavirus situation in the country. The 22-year-old will be the defending champion of the Olympic 100m freestyle race. He is also one of Australia’s most exciting swimming prospects and a favorite to win a gold medal for his country. His main rival for the gold, on paper, is the USA’s, Caeleb Dressel. Chalmers beat Dressel to win gold at the Rio Olympics in 2016 but was beaten to the 2019 world title by the American in just over 46 seconds.

With Tokyo and several other prefectures already under emergency rules due to the pandemic, the Aussie fears that the virus may have a damaging effect on The Games. Japan is currently dealing with a fourth wave of the coronavirus and Chalmers admitted to being a bit nervous.

Although Japan has seen a relatively lower Covid-19 outbreak than other countries, organisers are facing strong and persistent domestic opposition to The Games over fears of a new surge with thousands of athletes and staff from worse affected countries entering Tokyo. Chalmers is one of the many who believe that a coronavirus outbreak is likely under the circumstances.

“Obviously, it is a little bit scary,” he told Australian newspaper Adelaide Advertiser on Friday, “My biggest fear is getting through the heats and semi-finals and then testing positive for Covid and you’re out of the final and sitting in your bedroom for 14 days,” he added.

“I keep track of Tokyo (Covid case) numbers and they’re starting to come down, which is good, but I think it’s probably inevitable that Covid will be in and around the (athletes’) village and affect the Games in some capacity,” Chalmers continued. “I’m not here training 40 hours a week to be second best in the world. I’m training to be number one, so I’m definitely highly motivated to stay there,” he concluded.