By David Kirton
SHENZHEN, China (Reuters) – Belgian skeleton racer Kim Meylemans has made it to one of the Olympic villages after tearfully describing on Instagram her anguish over facing seven days of isolation at another site due to a COVID-19 scare on the way to the Games.
The 25-year-old tested positive for COVID-19 upon her arrival at the Beijing Olympics and was taken to isolate, where she would need several tests before she would be allowed to enter the Olympic Village.
After a negative test she thought she would be allowed to head to Yanqing, she said in the Instagram post, but the ambulance she boarded took her to another facility where she faced seven days of isolation.
“Obviously this is very hard for me so I ask you all to give me some time to consider my next steps because I’m not sure I can handle 14 more days and the Olympic competition while being in this isolation,” said Meylemans, who finished 14th in Pyeongchang four years ago.
When Belgian Olympic officials and the International Olympic Committee learned of Meylemans’s situation, they then intervened to help have her moved to a site in the Olympic Village, the IOC said in statement.
In an update posted late on Wednesday, Meylemans said she was moved to an isolation wing inside one of the Olympic villages.
“It seems like the video and especially also the efforts of my Olympic committee have really paid off,” Meylemans said, adding that she now felt safe and will be able to train better.
IOC spokesman Christian Klaue said on Twitter he was relieved Meylemans was now in the Village and that he was glad “all the efforts led to the successful resolution of this situation”.
Olav Spahl, Belgium’s Head of Mission Beijing 2022, said their priority was getting Meylemans to the Village as quickly as possible.
“We understand that COVID measures are necessary to preserve the safety and health of participants in the Olympic Games, but we believe that in this approach, the athlete must remain central,” said Spahl.
Official training for the women’s skeleton starts next week, ahead of the competition starting on Feb. 12.
Eleven Beijing Olympics-related personnel have been hospitalised with COVID-19 in the Chinese capital since Jan. 23 out of a total of 232 positive cases, Brian McCloskey, chair of the Beijing 2022 medical expert panel, said on Wednesday. [L1N2UD049]
(Reporting by David Kirton; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
