Six Team GB track and field athletes isolate themselves as Covid reaches the Tokyo Olympics

Team GB’s Olympic plans were disrupted by news that six track and field athletes, two track and field staff and two headquarters staff in Japan had to isolate after being identified as close contacts for positive Covid cases.

All are now locked in their rooms at the Team GB prep camp hotel in Yokohama or the Olympic Village, and athletes will not be able to train less than a week before the Tokyo Games begin.

The eight-person athletics contingent have been identified as close contacts after Covid was discovered in a person who was disconnected from Team GB on their flight to Japan on Thursday. The UK group all tested negative on arrival and have been doing so every day since, but they remain isolated as per Tokyo Games guidelines.

The identity of those affected was not disclosed due to medical confidentiality, but the world champions Dina Asher-Smith and Katarina Johnson-Thompson and the medal hopefuls Laura Muir and Jemma Reekie have apparently not yet flown to Japan.

There is no set amount of time a competitor must exceptionally isolate if identified as a close contact, with cases being “viewed on an individual basis”.

The Tokyo Games Athletes Playbook states that close contact between athletes “must follow reinforced countermeasures, including daily negative nasopharyngeal PCR test results and further minimizing contact with others, e.g. while exercising.”

It is believed that the six athletes can return to some form of training if they present two negative PCR tests in the next 48 hours.

Fortunately for those affected, athletics is one of the last Olympic sports that doesn’t start in Tokyo until July 30th. However, taking a break from training at this late stage is sure to have adverse effects both physically and mentally.

The telegraph also learned that two other Team GB Headquarters employees are isolating themselves in their rooms in the Olympic Village after being identified as close contacts to a person who tested positive after a separate outbound flight on Tuesday.

All six affected athletes and four employees are closely monitored by the British medical team and its chief physician.

“This is disappointing news for the athletes and the staff, but we absolutely respect the protocols in force,” said Mark England, Team GB’s chief de mission. “We will offer you every support during this time and hope that you can train again soon.”

Fears for the safety of athletes competing in the Tokyo Games have grown in recent days as the number of people who fail Covid tests rose to a total of 55, including three in the Olympic Village.

The Team GB contingent of 376 athletes and 500+ support staff has yet to be hit by a positive case, but the latest news will raise major concerns with more than a hundred UK athletes flying into the country in the next 10 days.

Team GB’s Covid protocol goes beyond what the Tokyo Games organizers demand. Each member of the UK contingent will be tested regularly for a fortnight prior to departure, in addition to the mandatory entry tests allowed into Japan.

Team GB’s preparatory training camp in nearby Yokohama was even jokingly compared to a prison by athletes this week, so strict are the Covid guidelines.

But the news that so many Team GB members are forced into isolation because of their proximity to people unrelated to the Olympics will only highlight the danger that any trip to Japan poses to any athlete.

On Sunday, two members of the South African men’s soccer team were the first athletes in the Olympic Village to test positive for Covid.

Thabiso Monyane and Kamohelo Mahlatsi failed the tests, as did the team’s video analyst Mario Masha, who tested positive when he arrived in Tokyo. The entire South Africa squad is now in quarantine and waiting for further test results before the opening game against Japan on Thursday.

“This unfortunate situation meant that we missed our first intensive training session last night,” said South Africa’s team manager Mxolisi Sibam.

The International Olympic Committee is determined to maintain the Olympic Village as the “safest place” at the Games, with all athletes being subjected to a rigorous daily testing regime and protocol to prevent intermingling.

Anyone who tests positive in the Village will be moved to a secure Covid facility on site.