As his Olympic delegation announced on Friday, a weightlifter from Uganda disappeared in Japan.
The search for the 20-year-old is now underway.
Tokyo - One week before the start of this year's Olympic Games in Tokyo *, an athlete is already making headlines.
But not for sporting reasons.
After failing to qualify for the Summer Games, a weightlifter * disappeared from Uganda and the Japanese authorities are now looking for him.
Olympia 2021: Participants have to go home after missing the qualification - and apparently go into hiding in Japan
The 20-year-old weightlifter Julius Ssekitoleko apparently failed to qualify for the competitions at the Olympics *.
He was then scheduled to fly back to his home country next Tuesday, but the athlete has been missing since Friday.
The head of the delegation from Uganda, Beatrice Ayikoruv, confirmed this to the Japanese media.
The team from inland East Africa recently attracted attention due to two athletes who tested positive for the coronavirus *.
The participants from Uganda arrived in Japan last month, but the team did not start training until last week in view of the corona infections.
Olympia 2021: Weightlifter threatens consequences - "expel him from the sport"
The President of the Ugandan Weightlifting Association, Salim Musoke, also spoke up about the missing Ssekitoleko.
He was disappointed with the New York Times about the behavior of his protégé.
"If athletes go missing, it's not good for the country," said Musoke.
"I pray that they will have the boy," he continued, but also made an unequivocal threat against the missing person: "The Japanese government should get this boy and then we will expel him from the sport."
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Olympia 2021: Ugandan weightlifter missing - shortly before the corona test, his hotel room was empty
The search for the young man is now underway, and the Ugandan Olympic representation has announced that it will work closely with the local authorities. The weightlifter recently stayed with his team as part of a training camp in the city of Izumisano. As a city spokesman is
quoted
by the
New York Times
, the athlete's hotel room was found empty by an official of the Ugandan delegation. Ssekitoleko should have undergone a corona test on Friday evening.
During the Olympic Games, the organizers try to isolate the participants in so-called "bubbles", and the athletes are also bound by strict regulations. In view of the massive increase in corona cases, Japan declared a state of emergency for Tokyo prefecture. For the first time in history, the major event has to do without a spectator.
(ajr)