Even as athletes arrived for the Olympics, some were soon to discover that they wouldn’t be able to compete. Czech beach volleyball players Markéta Sluková-Nausch and Barbora Hermannova were both ruled out of the Games as the European team grappled with Covid-19 after they landed in Tokyo. Sluková-Nausch’s positive test result was announced on July 22 , as she became the fifth member of the Czech Olympic team to have tested positive for Covid-19 in Tokyo.
“We cried, then we swore, then we cried again,” said Sluková-Nausch, whose positive test also rules out her playing partner Hermannová from the Games.
“I am just hoping that no other athletes will follow us, because I think that something like this is a nightmare for any athlete, for any Olympian, who gets this far, this close to the Olympic competition,” added Sluková-Nausch.