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The German Boxing Federation reported Sunday that a “large chunk” of its 25-year Tokyo Olympics team contracted Covid-19 while training in the Austrian Alps.
The group, made up of 18 boxers and seven other staff members, must now remain in quarantine at the training ground at Laengenfeld in Tirol, DBV director Michael Mueller said.
Without specifying numbers, he said “a large part of the team” was affected but everyone was doing well so far.
“The boxers are now in quarantine. They don’t show strong symptoms and can even keep training, ”Mueller told AFP’s SID subsidiary.
The athletes’ conditions are being carefully monitored and they should be allowed to return home next week, he added.
German weekly Der Spiegel had previously reported that the boxers, who are training for the postponed Tokyo Olympics, began showing signs of a cold on Tuesday before Covid-19 suspicions were confirmed on Wednesday.
The training ground was the team’s first foray abroad since the start of the pandemic.
German media were quick to point out that the boxers were staying at the same hotel in Laengenfeld where the Bundesliga soccer team Schalke 04 stayed at the end of August, and that one of its players also tested positive for the coronavirus while there. .
Mueller defended the decision to take the boxing team abroad, saying they had opted for Austria because coronavirus numbers there were low at the time.
However, like other European countries, Austria has seen a strong spike in cases recently.
“We have gained some valuable experiences that we can use on our next trips,” Mueller said.
“Anyone who thinks that the preparation for the Olympics can happen without any case of coronavirus, is not living in reality.”
The 2020 Games were postponed in a landmark decision earlier this year due to the pandemic, and are now scheduled to begin on July 23, 2021.
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