Trinidad and Tobago’s three covid19-positive Olympic delegation members are doing well at the isolation hotel facility in Tokyo, Japan.
TT Olympic Committee (TTOC) president Brian Lewis said the team’s chef de mission Lovie Santana and covid19 liaison officer Rheeza Grant are in daily communication with the three.
On Friday, the TTOC issued a statement that long jumper Anduwelle Wright, 400m hurdler Sparkle McKnight and long jump coach Wendell Williams had tested positive for the virus after daily antigen tests at the Olympic Village.
“They are in good spirits,” Lewis said via WhatsApp on Tuesday.
“Our chef de mission and covid19 liaison are in daily contact with the three Team TTO delegates. If there are any needs or concerns that need to be addressed, it is addressed by the TTOC to complement whatever conditions exist at the isolation hotel.”
The positive results from Wright and McKnight automatically eliminated them from competition. This was McKnight’s second Olympic Games and Wright’s debut.
Lewis said the three members are showing “no symptoms or sickness” and are eager to move past this obstacle and return home.
With the games scheduled to conclude on Sunday, Lewis, who is also the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees (CANOC) president, hopes the national delegation can end its Tokyo 2020 stint on a high and return to their respective destinations safely.
“Our aim is to have the entire delegation, when the games have come to an end, they can get a negative PCR test, return home and continue to test negative during the period of quarantine,” he added.
Before the start of the games, Lewis made clear there was a possibility of international athletes and officials testing positive for the virus. He said TT’s delegation members were well aware of the risks involved in attending and understood and agreed to adhere to the strict regulations laid out by the International Olympic Committee, Tokyo 2020 organising committee, Japanese government and Tokyo metropolitan government.
He concluded, “To be fair, we have had no adverse comment on concern about what is happening (regarding regulations at the games).
“It is a reality which we have accepted even before we left TT. The decision was made to accept the IOC’s invitation to attend the Tokyo 2020 games given the reality of a global pandemic.”