First German COVID case at Tokyo Olympics
July 25, 2021
The German Olympic Sports Confederation on Friday said Simon Geschke will now have to isolate under the strict Olympic health regulations after testing positive.
Geschke will have to withdraw from the Mount Fuji road race this Saturday.
News of the case, the first to hit the German Olympic team, coincided with the opening ceremony.
The cyclist was staying with the entire road race team along with his teammates at a hotel outside the Olympic village.
The 12 other German cyclists and team officials had previously tested negative and will undergo further tests.
Geschke wrote on Twitter that he was "more than disappointed to miss the Olympics tomorrow but also glad everyone else tested negative.”
The cyclists' roommate, Emanuel Buchmann, who had previously tested negative, will have to go through a further PCR test before being cleared to race.
The team said his teammates, Niklas Arndt and Maximilian Schachmann, are eligible to start.
This would have been Geschke's second Olympic Games after Rio de Janeiro, where he finished 13th in the time trial but did not finish the road race.
Nearly 100 people have contracted coronavirus in the Olympic bubble, including several athletes.
on/msh (dpa, Reuters)