The Grand Slam of Tbilisi this weekend was to make it possible to enter the selections for the European Championships, the world and part of the Olympic Games (especially for women).
It will be for later, because the French team (in which neither Teddy Riner nor Clarisse Agbegnenou appeared) will return precipitously from Georgia, after a 3rd member of the French delegation tested positive for Covid-19 .
This Tuesday, two French people, whose identity was not revealed because of medical confidentiality, had been placed in solitary confinement, after a positive test.
However, we know that the cases were declared within the men's Olympic team, which before the Grand Slam took part in a training camp last week, in the presence of other delegations.
Several positive cases were also reported among the other teams.
This Thursday morning, after having discussed with the National Sports Agency, in particular since the health crisis, travel abroad for all high-level athletes (only those preparing for the Tokyo Olympics are theoretically authorized to travel) , the French judo federation took the decision to repatriate the entire delegation.
Including the women's team, which had not taken part in the camp, but arrived at the beginning of the week in Georgia.
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"This decision was taken as a precautionary principle and for the sake of protecting the health of its athletes and their staff a few weeks before major international deadlines", explains the Federation in a press release.
The three tested positive nevertheless remained in Tbilisi, where they were placed in solitary confinement ”.
Isolation is also planned on arrival in Paris for all contact cases, authorized to travel because all negative for the moment.
"A reinforced health monitoring protocol will be put in place by the federal medical service," the statement said.
Avoid the cluster of the XV of France
Ironically, the repatriation of the French judo team comes on the day the French Rugby Federation wanted to celebrate International Waffle Day in its own way with a rather daring tweete.
"On this March 25, we wish you all an excellent international waffle day", joked the FFR, just to make fun of "the waffle affair" and this outing in the streets of Rome on the sidelines of the VI Nations Tournament.
A greedy stroll, however, perhaps, in part, at the origin of the wave of contaminations (16 positive cases) within the Blues of rugby.
On this March 25th, we wish you all a great International Waffle Day 😋 #WaffleDay pic.twitter.com/wUMYmFRuuZ
- France Rugby (@FranceRugby) March 25, 2021
The French Judo Federation has shown itself to be more reasonable than its rugby counterpart, by immediately setting up a protocol to try to curb the contaminations.
At the beginning of March, the tricolor athletics had also been affected, during the European Championships in Torun, Poland.
Two cases were declared on the spot, preventing these two members of the staff from returning to Paris with the delegation.
Two other people had been checked after their return.
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Cases which, inevitably, worry four months before the Tokyo Olympics, where 10,000 athletes from around the world are expected.
The Japanese authorities have already taken very important measures to fight against the virus.
It remains to be seen whether this will be enough to avoid a wave of contamination, knowing that the International Olympic Committee has assured that an athlete tested positive on the spot will be automatically excluded from the Games.
