Korean Olympians Pass 1st Nail-Biting COVID Test

Korea’s Olympic team and their support staff had their first nail-biting coronavirus test in Tokyo on Thursday.

The tests are make-or-break since anyone testing positive, even if they are asymptomatic, will miss out on the whole of the games and may never get the chance again.

The International Olympic Committee announced the draconian protocol early this month. It says that any athlete who tests positive will be classified as “did not start (DNS)” rather than “disqualified,” and this way their minimum result “will be protected” from a black mark against their name. The next most eligible athlete or team then fills the place of the unlucky patient.

All athletes have to have a saliva test for coronavirus every day and can see the results at 9 p.m. that day or 6 a.m. the next day. If they test positive or the result is inconclusive, they have to get a PCR nasal swab.

In all disciplines that are completed in one day, such as fencing, judo and taekwondo, any athlete or team tested positive for the virus will of course miss the whole competition. In competitions that take longer, unlucky athletes may start but never finish if they test positive partway through.

Those who had close contact with people who tested positive can still take part in competitions if they test negative within six hours before the start of their events.

As for what constitutes a team, the rules vary from sport to sport. For soccer events, for example, at least 13 players from each side are required for a match, and in a tennis doubles match, if any one of the two tests positive, both lose out.

In a mixed team event like archery, where Korea hopes to sweep medals, another athlete on site can replace a team member in case he or she can no longer take part in, but in the men’s and women’s team events, only one member needs to test positive for the whole team to be sent home.

Athletes will crown themselves to reduce contact. “The medals will not be hung around the necks,” IOC President Thomas Bach said in a press conference last week. “They will be presented to the athlete on a tray and then the athlete will take the medal himself or herself.”

The opening ceremony starts at the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo at 8:00 p.m. Friday, and only 950 people will be able to attend. Japan had hoped for 100,000, but each country has reduced its contingent to a minimum.

The only world leaders to brave the lackluster show will be U.S. First Lady Jill Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron, who has to appear to promote the next 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

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