Sports
PH exec to Tokyo Olympics contracts Covid-19
MANILA – The Philippine delegation to the Tokyo Olympics suffered a minor setback after Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Bambol Tolentino revealed on Saturday that an official who is supposed to join the national team contracted the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
“He will not be able to go there anymore,” Tolentino said in a talk show interview.
As for the athletes, they should monitor for symptoms and log their temperature daily for two weeks in a health-reporting app before going to Tokyo.
They must also fill out an “activity plan” for their first 14 days in Japan describing where they will go, how they will get there, and what they will be doing, according to the NBC Olympics.
No quarantine will be required but during their Olympic stay, athletes will be tested at least every four days and there will be temperature checks in all venues.
An athlete who tests positive will be required to isolate and will not be allowed to compete.
Some members of the Philippine team are already in capital city Tokyo, the main hub of the biggest global sport event that will unfurl on July 23 amid a state of emergency due to Covid-19 cases.
Philippine team Chef de Mission Nonong Araneta, Dr. Randy Molo, POC general manager Dinah Remolacio, games management officer Martin Gregorio, and protocol officer Jarryd Bello were the first to arrive on Tuesday.
On Saturday, rower Cris Nievarez, his coach Edgar Maerina, and rowing association treasurer Magnum Membrere also arrived in Japan.
The Philippine boxing team has also reunited in Tokyo after holding separate training camps.
Eumir Marcial and coach Ronald Chavez arrived from Los Angeles, while Carlo Paalam, Irish Magno, Nesthy Petecio, and coaches Nolito Velasco, Elmer Pamisa, Reynaldo Galido, and Australian consultant Donald Walter Abnett all came from Bangkok.
Judoka Kiyomi Watanabe and gymnast Caloy Yulo are already training in Tokyo and would enter the Athletes’ Village on Sunday.
Watanabe and Marcial will carry the Philippine flag during the opening ceremony.
The other members of the 19-man PH team are golfers Yuka Saso, Bianca Pagdanganan, and Juvic Pagunsan; weightlifters Hidylyn Diaz and Elreen Ando; skateboarder Margielyn Didal; pole vaulter EJ Obiena; trackster Kristina Marie Knott; shooter Jayson Valdez; taekwondo jin Kurt Barbosa; and swimmers Luke Gebbie and Remedy Rule.