Vaccines might be effective at preventing death and severe illness from the disease—but they’re not foolproof in preventing infection. That’s a new problem for sports.
The Internation Olympic Committee IOC official position remains that vaccination will be preferred but not compulsory.
All that encouragement has added up to a large majority of athletes arriving vaccinated. The IOC said in a statement "well above" 80% of athletes in Tokyo will be vaccinated. And, an estimated 11,500 athletes and an additional 79,000 staff, journalists, and officials are traveling to Japan for the Games.
Athletes had to submit two negative COVID-19 tests taken within 96 hours before they left for Japan, whether they were vaccinated or not, according to the playbooks, with at least one of the tests taken within 72 hours of departure. They also have to undergo daily antigen tests.
The rules around testing are strict: Athletes who refuse to be tested will be barred from competition.
A star NBA player, the U.S. Open golf champion and a Ugandan Olympic coach have something in common that is creating a new headache for sports organizers: they tested positive for the novel coronavirus after being vaccinated.
Coco Gauff
The 17-year-old tennis star will have to wait to compete in her first Olympics. Gauff announced on Twitter that she tested positive for COVID-19 on July 18.
“It has always been a dream of mine to represent the USA at the Olympics, and I hope there will be many more chances for me to make this come true in the future,” Gauff wrote in a statement.
Kara Eaker
Eaker was set to serve as an alternate for the U.S. women’s gymnastics team before testing positive on July 19. The U.S. women’s gymnastics team was already in Tokyo when Eaker tested positive. The alternate gymnasts were rooming together, but all athletes have since been moved to separate housing.
Katie Lou Samuelson
Team USA was forced to replace Samuelson on its 3x3 basketball team after the Seattle Storm forward tested positive on July 19. Samuelson wrote in an Instagram post that she was “fully vaccinated and took every precaution,” but she’ll still be forced to stay home from Tokyo.
Bradley Beal
The Washington Wizards star was ruled out for the Tokyo Olympics after entering health and safety protocols on July 15. Beal played in three exhibition games for Team USA this month before he was ruled out.
