As the Omicron variant of COVID19 is so infectious, it is not surprising that many of the Olympic athletes who went to Beijing for the winter games tested positive for the coronavirus.
Also, it is difficult to know if these athletes have contacted coronavirus variants from their host country.
Therefore, it is not surprising that some of these young people have ended up in quarantine. However, the conditions at the quarantine hotels are shocking.
Not enough food. Inedible meals. No training equipment. Some Olympic athletes unlucky enough to test positive for the coronavirus at the Beijing Olympics feel their quarantine conditions are making a bad situation much worse.“My stomach hurts, I’m very pale and I have huge black circles around my eyes. I want all this to end. I cry every day. I’m very tired,” Russian biathlon competitor Valeria Vasnetsova posted on Instagram from one of Beijing’s so-called quarantine hotels.Her problem wasn’t with any symptoms of the virus. It was the food.Vasnetsova posted a picture Thursday of what she said was “breakfast, lunch and dinner for five days already” — a tray with food including plain pasta, an orange sauce, charred meat on a bone, a few potatoes and no greens.She said she mostly survived on a few pieces of pasta because it was “impossible” to eat the rest, “but today I ate all the fat they serve instead of meat because I was very hungry.” She added she lost a lot of weight and “my bones are already sticking out.”
Other athletes are complaining about the facilities themselves, as well as the lack of follow-up on testing.
Head of German team Dirk Schimmelpfennig also blasted ‘unacceptable’ conditions for his athletes, saying isolation rooms are too small, not hygienic enough, the food is poor and PCR tests that athletes must take to free themselves are not being given.Natalia Maliszewska, a Polish speed skater, described being repeatedly moved into and out of quarantine over successive days due to conflicting Covid test results, an experience she described as a ‘trauma’ that left her ‘crying and crying’.During one ‘night of horror’ she said officials dragged her out of bed at 3am in order to take her back to the athlete’s village after ruling she was Covid-free – only to later say they made a mistake before taking her back into solitary.’I was sitting in the ambulance. It was 3am. I was crying like crazy because I didn’t know what was going on. I did not feel safe at all,’ the 26-year-old said.
I must say, I am troubled by exactly which athletes tested “positive”. Olympic figure skater Vincent Zhou was a strong contender for medals, or for helping the American team’s scoring.
He is now out of Olympic singles competition, due to covid.
U.S. Olympic figure skater Vincent Zhou withdrew from the men’s singles competition on Monday after testing positive for COVID-19. He made the announcement in an emotional Instagram video posted less than a day before the start of the event.A two-time Olympian, Zhou was expected to contend for a medal alongside six-time U.S. champion Nathan Chen and two-time reigning Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu.”I have tested positive for COVID-19 and unfortunately I will have to withdraw from the individual event starting tomorrow,” he said. “It seems pretty unreal that of all the people it would happen to myself, and that’s not just because I’m still processing this turn of events but also because I have been doing everything in my power to stay free of COVID since the start of the pandemic. I’ve taken all the precautions I can. I’ve isolated myself so much that the loneliness I felt in the last month or two has been crushing at times.”
I sure hope all the officials and corporations who thought it was a great idea for China to hoist these games have learned some valubAle lessons.
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