Of the 88 athletes making up the French delegation in Beijing, there had to be at least one.
Sébastien Lepape is the one… The 30-year-old tricolor short-track specialist, who is participating in his third Olympic Games, was declared positive for Covid-19 upon his arrival at the international airport on January 27.
Negative the next day and asymptomatic, he integrated a special protocol put in place by the organizers.
In particular, he must go to training in dedicated transport to preserve the other athletes.
"It's a misadventure but it's part of the game, you had to take that into account," said the Norman.
Here, there is a protocol, I do what I am asked to do and I stay focused on training, trying not to think too much about what is happening around.
I took a positive test, voila…”
Press Release - #Beijing2022 Olympic Games, information on positive Covid-19 cases: https://t.co/B6VJ6vt9LW.
pic.twitter.com/FRj0VGg419
– FranceOlympique (@FranceOlympique) February 1, 2022
Lepape has little desire to pour out his somewhat special condition, which deprived him of the start of final preparation.
“I was a little late but I didn't stop training, he slips.
I came back to the “official” ice that we had already known last October when we came to do the test event.
It's almost similar.
I was able to regain my feelings, train with the team and prepare for my first matches on Saturday.
The feeling is good, physically I'm ready for it.
We have managed to get in shape when necessary and we will do the job.
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Seven members of the contact case delegation
In addition to Lepape, coach Annie Sarrat tested positive the first three days of her arrival and placed in solitary confinement.
Now negative, she returned to her hotel in Beijing.
Seven members of the delegation are contact cases and must respect isolation outside of training.
"We don't really talk about that in the group," breathes Tiffany Huot-Marchand.
We focus on performance, preparation and it's going well..."
In recent days, Tony Estanguet, boss of the 2024 Olympics, Brigitte Henriques, president of the CNOSF or Nathalie Péchalat, president of the French skating federation and project manager for the Winter Olympics have been declared positive just before their departure for Beijing, which led them to postpone or cancel their trip...