One week before the opening, the Tokyo Olympics face more or less expected twists.
Over the past three days, several reports have reported positive tests for Covid-19 among delegations and organizers, as well as in the heart of the Olympic Village.
If these complications were predictable, given the rebound of the pandemic, the disappearance of an athlete was significantly less.
The story of Ugandan Julius Ssekitoleko took a new turn on Saturday morning.
International media reports that Ugandan weightlifter Julius Ssekitoleko has gone missing in Tokyo, a week before the Olympic Games begin.
City officials discovered a note left by Ssekitoleko which said "I want to live in Japan because my life in Uganda is difficult."
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- Luther said: (@CB_Luther) July 17, 2021
Seen in his group's hotel in Izumisano (near Osaka) shortly after midnight, on the night of Thursday to Friday, this 20-year-old weightlifter has been missing since.
While he was expected for a Covid-19 test, he managed to escape.
Member of the first group of nine Ugandan athletes, coaches and executives who arrived in Japan in mid-June, Ssekitoleko had just learned - this week - that he would not participate in the Tokyo Olympics.
Due to a question of Olympic quotas, his name was deleted from the waiting list on which he was placed, placed among the unqualified, and the athlete was due to return to Uganda shortly.
A train ticket to Nagoya
Finally, a note found in the athlete's room explains the reasons for this abrupt departure. Due to the harshness of life in Uganda, Julius Ssekitoleko does not want to go back. He wants to settle and live in Japan. Several sources also reveal that the weightlifter was seen buying a train ticket to the city of Nagoya.
