Olympic plans in chaos after three Aussie skaters test positive to COVID-19

Australia’s plans to send a skateboarding team to the Olympics have been thrown into chaos after three members of the team caught COVID-19.

Australia’s plans to send a skateboarding team to the Olympics in Japan this year have been thrown into chaos after three members of the Australian team, including a 13-year-old skater, tested positive to COVID-19 in the US.

The team of 11 skaters and several staff members are in the states for a crucial qualifying event.

They flew out from Sydney on May 3 to California before travelling to the Dew Tour in Iowa in an effort to qualify for the Olympics.

Skate Australia says the first athlete tested positive in California on May 13 prior to the event and didn’t travel to Iowa.

The second athlete tested positive at the Dew Tour on May 16 at the competition registration and was isolated immediately. They did not compete.

The coach tested positive at the Dew Tour on May 21 and was isolated immediately.

Melbourne skater Charlotte Heath, 13, told her followers on social media she was one of the athletes who contracted the virus.

“Pretty bummed about not being able to compete in dew tour In Des Moines this year because I got Covid 19,” she wrote in an Instagram post.

“I have to quarantine for a while now and I was really looking forward to this comp, but at least I got to travel to America and go to all the sick skateparks while I could.”

One of the skaters Poppy Starr Olsen, who tested negative, spoke to ABC’s Radio National this morning said the news was “devastating” because those who caught the virus were supposed to be competing in a final qualification competition today — and now they can’t compete because the entire team is in lockdown.

She said Iowa was the last opportunity for the COVID positive skaters to qualify.

She said the coach who caught the virus has flu-like symptoms but that everyone was “okay”.

“There are a lot of people who are very frustrated because we came from a safe county with no COVID cases so we knew the risks coming here, but it’s a bit surreal,” she said.

“It’s pretty scary coming from a safe country with no COVID to over here.”

She said most of the team had the first dose of the vaccine in Australia before they left.

The team flew to the US earlier this month.

She said she would have been worried about COVID even if she had the full dose because the US was so heavily populated.

Skate Australia says it still believes it will field nine or ten athletes in its Olympics team.

The qualifying team was supposed to be flying to San Diego in the coming days before either returning home or travelling to Tokyo if successful at the qualifiers.

Not all our skateboarders need to go across to the US to qualify.

Melbourne street skater Hayley Wilson is already ranked 7th in the Women’s Street and has been guaranteed a spot in Tokyo. She will fly directly to Tokyo from Australia.

In the Men’s Street category, LA-based Australian skater Shane O’Neill is ranked 16th in the world and has qualified for the Dew Tour men’s final on Sunday US time.