THE opening match of the women’s beach volleyball event at the Tokyo Olympics was cancelled due to coronavirus.
Czech Republic star Marketa Slukova tested positive for Covid earlier this year – which knocked her and partner Barbora Hermannova out of the Games.
Their game on Saturday became the first event of the Tokyo Games to be called off due to Covid.
As a result, Japan’s pair of Megumi Murakami and Miki Ishii have been handed a 2-0 victory.
So far there have been six confirmed cases of coronavirus in the Czech Republic Olympic team, including Slukova’s husband and coach Simon Nausch.
Men’s beach volleyball ace Ondrej Perusic has also tested positive, along with table tennis player Pavel Sirucek and cyclist Michal Schlegel.
Slukova has spoken of her dismay at being unable to compete in the Olympics as she claimed she was reduced to tears.
She remarked: “It’s awfully sad for me, that Barbora and me, we had to quit this way.”
Before adding: “We cried, then we swore, then we cried again.
“I am just hoping that no other athletes will follow us.
“Because I think that something like this is a nightmare for any athlete, for any Olympian, who gets this far, this close to the Olympic competition.”
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All of those in the Czech team that tested positive arrived in Tokyo in the same charter plane, prompting the country’s Olympic Committee to launch an investigation.
The Committee said: “The investigation will focus on whether all safety measures against COVID-19 spread were upheld before, during, and after the flight and whether some individuals have neglected their duties.”
A total of 14 athletes were on the plane from Prague to Tokyo, with the other people on the flight testing negative on their PCR tests.
Commenting on the cases, Czech team doctor Martin Doktor declared: “The situation is serious.
“We have done our best to stop spreading the virus. Unfortunately, we didn’t avoid sport tragedies. I’m deeply sorry.”
Source: Athletics - thesun.co.uk
