Tokyo Olympics 2020: Australian athlete ‘shattered’ after testing positive to COVID-19
Australia’s Chef de Mission Ian Chesterman revealed tennis player Alex de Minaur has tested positive to coronavirus.
“We are very disappointed for Alex and said he is shattered at not being able to come,” Mr Chesterman said during a press conference in Tokyo.
“It has been a dream to represent Australia at the Olympic Games since he was a child, to represent Australia but he sent his best wishes for the rest of the team.”
He will no longer be joining the Australian team to compete at his first ever Olympics in the tennis singles and doubles tournaments.
It’s understood he hasn’t had any other physical contact with other athletes since leaving Wimbledon in London on July 5.
De Minaur tested negative on July 2 after leaving the Wimbledon bubble and flew to Spain where he developed symptoms, testing negative on July 5 before receiving a positive result on July 10 and a second subsequent positive test after.
As part of mandatory testing, athletes going to Tokyo must have a test at 96 and 72 hour before departure. This is where de Minaur found out he was infected.
It’s believed he had no contact with other Australian tennis players and other athletes have since tested negative.
Mr Chesterman said they will now notify the International Tennis Federation.
The 22-year-old – who is Australia’s highest ranking men’s player at world number 17 – lost in the opening round of Wimbledon after losing to American Sebastian Korda.
De Minaur will join Nick Kyrgios on the sidelines who confirmed he was not attending due to an injury sustained at Wimbledon and saying it didn’t feel right playing with no crowd at the Olympics.
The men’s singles draw will at this stage be represented by John Millman and James Duckworth.
Recent Wimbledon champion Ash Barty will lead the women’s draw with Ajla Tomljanovic and four-time Olympian Sam Stosur.
Other notable withdrawls from the Tokyo Games include Roger Federer who suffered a “setback” from a knee injury and Rafael Nadal who withdrew to prolong his career in tennis.
Source: skynews.com.au
