Tokyo Olympics 2021: First beach volleyball match of the Games canceled because of COVID-19 positive

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While everyone involved in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics knew the coronavirus (COVID-19) was likely to affect The Games, perhaps it wasn’t expected on the first day of competition after the Opening Ceremony. Due to a positive COVID-19 test, the first scheduled beach volleyball match of the tournament was canceled. Markéta Sluková-Nausch was supposed to team up with Barbora Hermannová for the Czech Republic against the host nation of Japan, but Sluková-Nausch tested positive for the virus and the match was called off. 

“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,” Sluková-Nausch told CNN after the positive test was confirmed. 

The suspended match was an expansion of trouble for the Czech team, which has now seen six positive COVID-19 tests.

Because of the growing number of positives, the Czech Olympic Committee has opened an investigation into the possibility of team members breaking COVID-19 protocols on the team’s charter flight from Prague to Tokyo late last week. 

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics were postponed last summer because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Tokyo residents have voiced opposition to The Games moving forward as planned in the weeks and months approaching Friday’s Opening Ceremony. 

The six members of the Czech team join a growing list of athletes from around the world in Tokyo who’ve tested positive for COVID-19.

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