Three Czech Olympians test positive for COVID-19

by Lexi Lonas Cochran - 07/22/21 10:51 AM ET

Five people from the Czech delegation to the Olympics, including three athletes, have tested positive for the coronavirus after a flight to Japan that is under investigation.

A probe into the flight was launched by Jiří Kejval, chairman of the Czech Olympic Committee, and the results will be published within 14 days, the country’s Olympic Committee said Thursday.

The investigation will be focused on “whether all precautions against the spread of COVID-19 before, during and after the charter flight have been complied with.”

The Czech athletes who tested positive for COVID-19 were beach volleyball players Ondřej Perušič and Nausch Sluková and table tennis player Pavel Širuček, the Czech News Agency reported.

The two other cases are the delegation’s doctor and beach volleyball coach Simon Nausch.

The delegation’s doctor, Vlastimil Voráček, was unvaccinated and the first person to test positive for the virus.

“Everywhere we convince people to be vaccinated. And here the doctor of our delegation is not vaccinated,” Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said Wednesday.

There have been dozens of positive cases among Olympic athletes and staff as the Tokyo games are set to begin on Friday.

The U.S. had to have its first Olympian pull out of the games due to the virus this past week.