First the U.S. banned the fastest woman in the world—for the uninformed, that’s Sha’Carri Richardson—and now COVID-19 is coming through and crushing the building.
On Monday, American Olympic officials announced an alternate for the “women’s gymnastics team tested positive for the coronavirus just days before the Tokyo Olympics were set to begin.”
According to NBC News, the gymnast didn’t want to identify themselves, but the positive test happened during training for the upcoming games. The news site notes that the gymnast is between the ages of 10 and 19, and I’m still trying to figure out why a 10-year-old is competing in the damn Olympics. A statement from the team noted that the gymnast tested positive Sunday and that she and another alternate member of the team were in quarantine.
“In alignment with local rules and protocols, the athlete has been transferred to a hotel to quarantine. Out of respect for the individual’s privacy, we cannot provide more information at this time,” the organization said in a statement.
This comes after tennis sensation Coco Gauff announced Sunday that she was withdrawing from Olympic competition at the Tokyo games after she tested positive for COVID-19.
From The Root:
Gauff, 17, broke the news in a brief statement posted on Twitter–where she also wished the rest of Team USA and her fellow Olympians luck and safety.
From Gauff’s Twitter:
“It has always been a dream of mine to represent the USA at the Olympics, and I hope there will be many more chances for me to make this come true in the future.”
It may be for the better considering these Olympic games will be without spectators, and participants—some of the greatest athletes from across the world—will be sleeping on cardboard beds.
From the Washington Post:
Paul Chelimo, from the U.S. track and field Olympic team, posted photos of the beds to Twitter over the weekend, writing that it was “aimed at avoiding intimacy among athletes.”
“Beds will be able to withstand the weight of a single person to avoid situations beyond sports,” he added.
The idea took off across the internet, with athletes and fans alike on social media speculating that the beds were designed this way due to concerns about coronavirus transmissions at the Olympics.
These Olympics haven’t even started and it’s already shaping up to be a disaster.