Lamentations as 2020 Tokyo Olympics dismisses 4 athletes over COVID-19 infection

*After five years of training and preparations, I’m absolutely devastated, says top-ranked British shooter Amber Hill

*Czech Team Head says ‘we are terribly sorry about the situation’

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

As the echoes of third wave of the damaging Coronavirus (COVID-19) currently reverberate around the world, four competitors, including a shooting world number one saw their Tokyo Olympic Games dreams, in Japan, dashed after testing positive for the virus.

British shooter Amber Hill, top-ranked in the women’s skeet, was forced to pull out before she departed for Japan after testing positive, agency report said.

Hill noted in a team statement after the incident, that “after five years of training and preparations, I’m absolutely devastated.”

The team stated that Table Tennis player Pavel Sirucek became the third member of the Czech delegation to test positive for COVID-19 in the Athletes’ Village.

The Tokyo Olympics are being staged in biosecure “bubble” conditions, with athletes tested daily and under orders to stay socially distanced and wear masks when not competing, training, eating or sleeping.

But the latest cases show that competitors are treading a fine line, report said.

Chilean taekwondo competitor Fernanda Aguirre was also “devastated and very sad”, she said on social media, after testing positive on arrival in Japan from a training camp in Uzbekistan.

Chilean Olympic Committee in a statement said: “(She) is asymptomatic and in good health, but unfortunately will not be able to compete because the Japanese authorities impose a 10-day quarantine.”

The 21-year-old, who won a bronze medal at the 2019 Pan American Games, has been moved to an isolation facility, as has her coach.

Meanwhile, Dutch skateboarder Candy Jacobs described herself as “heartbroken” after she too was forced out.

Jacobs said on Instagram she had “done everything in my power to prevent this scenario and took all the precautions.”

The 31-year-old athlete said: “Unfortunately, I was tested positive for COVID-19 this morning, which means my Olympic journey ends here.”

Sirucek was the just latest member of the Czech contingent to test positive, after beach volleyball player Ondrej Perusic and beach volleyball coach Simon Nausch, an Austrian native.

A Czech staff member also failed a test upon landing in Tokyo for the 2020 Olympic Games.

Czech team head Martin Doktor stated: “We are terribly sorry about the situation.”

Sirucek’s positive test was announced only minutes before the draw of the table tennis tournament, meaning he is denied a first appearance at an Olympics.

“I was afraid there would be sports tragedies. But no one can really influence the spread of the virus, despite all the measures,” Doktor said.

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