Beijing Winter Olympic Games 2022: Norway’s women’s cross-country ski squad rocked by COVID-19
Two members of Norway’s women’s cross-country ski squad have tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of next month’s Beijing Olympics, the team says.
Heidi Weng and Anne Kjersti Kalva contracted COVID-19 at a training camp in the Italian alpine resort of Seiser Alm and are now isolating.
Norwegian cross-country manager Espen Bjervig said in a video call their participation in the Olympics was uncertain.
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Team doctor Oystein Andersen said Italian rules meant Weng and Kalva would be in isolation for 10 days, until February 3. The opening ceremony is scheduled for February 4 and the Olympic cross-country skiing program will start the next day.
“This is a shocking situation,” Andersen said.
Weng is the top-ranked Norwegian and a five-time world champion.
“We have a reserve in the squad, and we also have other athletes who are accredited and can be ready,” Bjervig said of possible replacements.
“But basically now the focus is on looking at the opportunities for those who have been taken out.”
Norway is the leading nation in cross-country skiing, with its women’s team having won three of the six events on the program at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.
The team had planned to leave for Beijing on Thursday but its departure has been delayed by the positive COVID-19 tests.
The entire men’s team is also in isolation in Seiser Alm after head coach Arild Monsen tested positive for COVID-19 after returning to Norway on Monday.
All eight team members were defined as close contacts of Monsen and were awaiting the results of PCR tests.
They are now scheduled to depart for Beijing on Monday.
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