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Pole Klemens Muranka had initially tested positive for the virus, so the team was excluded from the start of the tour in Oberstdorf. When another Muranka test came back negative in the evening, the Polish team said they wanted to start at the Allgäu too.
If Muranka and his colleagues test negative in the third round, all 62 jumpers would be at the start on Tuesday (4.30pm, live on ORF1 and on live broadcast). Then the usual knockout duels would be skipped. Also, in this case, the Poles should have the opportunity in the afternoon to catch up with the training jumps at the Schattenbergschanze which were canceled on Monday.
Florian Stern, general secretary of the inaugural contest in Oberstdorf, had emphasized in the afternoon that the results of the additional tests would no longer have any influence on the exclusion of Oberstdorf. At lunchtime he announced the expulsion of the entire Polish team. “We are very sorry for this decision, but to protect all other athletes, the health department had no other choice,” it was quoted in a statement.
Excluded from rating
The tests of Muranka’s colleagues were negative, but they belong to the so-called contact group 1, that is, they had direct contact with Muranka for more than 15 minutes or spent more than 30 minutes with him in a closed room or vehicle. Therefore, they were not allowed to participate in qualifying on Monday afternoon and were initially excluded from the start of the tour in Allgäu.
If the exclusion persists, Kubacki would have to successfully defend his title and Stoch would have to discard his hopes of his third win on the tour. The failure of an entire competition cannot be compensated.
Hard hit for sport
Exclusion would hit ski jumping hard. In sports, where only a few athletes from a few nations compete in the race for the golden eagle for the tour winner, the failure of two favorite companions is a severe blow. In the last twelve years, the winners of the tour came from just four countries. Poland triumphed three times.
Muranka had confirmed his positive test himself on social media. “I’m sorry but it happened … I’m positive and so far no symptoms,” the 26-year-old wrote on Instagram. Poland’s sporting director, former ski jumper Adam Malysz, said late at night before the turn: “We had a test two days ago and all the results were negative. It’s strange.”
