A few days ago, the news broke that Kohei Uchimura and Lilia Akhaimova both tested positive for COVID-19. Both gymnasts were supposed to compete at the Friendship and Solidarity competition in Tokyo next week and were tested in preparation for the event.
It appears that both could have false positive results, although their respective federations handled the situation very differently. Uchimura was tested three times after the positive result and all three tests came back negative. He has resumed training and might still compete at the meet.
According to Vera Kiryashova, Akhaimova’s personal coach, Akhaimova came to Round Lake in the beginning of October, and tested negative. Two weeks later, on October 20th, when gymnasts slated to go to Japan were tested again, her test came back positive. The next day, all gymnasts and coaches were re-tested and everyone’s tests results were negative, including Akhaimova’s. She had additional tests since then that were also negative. Nevertheless, she was asked to leave the training center and quarantine for two weeks during which she could not train. This means that she also cannot compete at the Russian Championships due to not being ready. Akhaimova talked about how upsetting the situation was on her Instagram account:
“All my tests were negative. And I did the two-week quarantine and am completely healthy now and, actually, wasn’t sick before. Perhaps, there was a mistake with the test. Because I couldn’t catch corona at the training center, since everyone was tested and the place is on lockdown”.
“I am missing all the competitions. I can’t compete in Japan, can’t compete at the Russian Championships, because I lost the competition shape and to compete now would be a huge risk. That’s why my coaches and I decided to work on recovering and getting back in shape. Unfortunately, all my work was for nothing. I got into the competition shape but everything can end in mere seconds like that”.
