The Australian track and field team has been released from a temporary lockdown inside the Olympics Village after they all returned negative Covid tests after a scare one day out from the start of competition Thursday.
Three members of the team had brief contact with a US track and field athlete who tested positive to the virus sending the entire team into lockdown.
All Australian athletes, including the three close contacts, later returned negative PCR tests.
Fifty four members of the track and field team, including 41 athletes and 13 officials, spent a little over two hours in their rooms awaiting testing results.
All members of the team have been allowed to resume with their regular routines except the three close contacts, who have remained in isolation.
“Once again, abundant caution and our strict protocols continue to keep the team safe,” Australian Olympic Team Chef de Mission Ian Chesterman said in a statement.
“We will continue to be very thorough in our observance of the Tokyo playbooks and our own additional measures.
“We want every Australian athlete to be in a position to have their Olympic moment. We will continue to be vigilant.”
Seven News is reporting that US pole vaulter Sam Kendricks has tested positive to the virus, ruling him out of the games, and that his proximity to Australian pole vaulter Kurtis Marschall may have put the squad at risk.
There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing on the part of Kendricks or Marschall.
(1/3) The health and safety of our athletes, coaches and staff is our top priority. We are saddened to confirm that Sam Kendricks tested positive for COVID-19 and will not compete in the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
— USOPC News (@USOPC_News) July 29, 2021
A brief statement from the AOC reads as follows.
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