Tokyo Olympics 2021: Six swimmers sent home after embarrassing administrative error

Six athletes have been left angry and heartbroken after an embarrassing error resulted in them being sent home before the games even started.

Six Polish swimmers have had to return from Japan even before the start of the Olympics after the Polish Swimming Federation sent too many athletes because of an administrative error.

The swimmers returned to Poland on Sunday, threatening legal action and calling for the head of the federation to resign over the incident.

The swimming team sent to Japan numbered 23 people.

“I would like to express my great regret, sadness and bitterness at the situation,” PZP director Pawel Slominski said in a statement.

Slominski admitted the mistake but said it had been motivated by a desire to “allow as many athletes and coaches as possible to take part”.

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Alicja Tchorz has slammed the PZP for its ‘incompetence’. Picture: Instagram

One of the six, Alicja Tchorz, wrote a post on Facebook attacking the “incompetence” of the PZP, saying they had “misunderstood the rules”.

“Imagine that you sacrifice five years of your life and… your sacrifice results in a total flop,” said Tchorz, who took part in the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.

Another of the six, Mateusz Chowaniec, said on Instagram: “This is an absurd situation that should never have happened.”

Poland’s culture and sports ministry urged the president “to immediately submit explanations” over the incident.

PROOF ‘ANTI-SEX’ BEDS AT OLYMPICS ARE FAKE NEWS

The cardboard beds at the Tokyo Olympic Village are “sturdy”, organisers reassured on Monday, after a report warned they weren’t strong enough for sex.

Irish gymnast Rhys McClenaghan filmed himself jumping repeatedly on a bed to prove the point, after the report in the New York Post claimed the beds were deliberately flimsy to promote social distancing.

Irish gymnast Rhys Mcclenaghan has disproved reports that Olympic Village beds in Japan were flimsy and 'anti-sex'. Picture: Twitter.

Beds in the Olympic village may be made of cardboard, but can hold 200kgs. Picture: Instagram.

“The beds are meant to be anti-sex. They’re made out of cardboard, yes, but apparently they’re meant to break with sudden movements. It’s fake -- fake news!” McClenaghan said in the video posted on Twitter.

The official Olympics Twitter account thanked McLenaghan for “debunking the myth”, adding “the sustainable beds are sturdy!” The report in the New York Post was based on a tweet, apparently tongue-in-cheek, by US distance runner Paul Chelimo who said the cardboard beds were “aimed at avoiding intimacy among athletes”.

“Beds will (only) be able to withstand the weight of a single person to avoid situations beyond sports,” he tweeted.

It’s not the first time the beds, which signal a commitment to sustainability, have come into question.

In January, manufacturer Airweave said they can withstand a weight of 200 kilograms and have been through rigorous stress tests, after Australian basketball player Andrew Bogut queried their durability.

“We’ve conducted experiments, like dropping weights on top of the beds,” a spokesperson told AFP.

Australian Table tennis athlete Michelle Bromley shows off her stash in the Olympic village.

“As long as they stick to just two people in the bed, they should be strong enough to support the load.” Thousands of athletes will stay at the Olympic Village during the pandemic-delayed 2020 Tokyo Games, which start on Friday.

Despite warnings to “avoid unnecessary forms of physical contact”, organisers are expected to hand out 160,000 condoms.

But the organising committee told AFP: “The distributed condoms are not meant to be used at the Olympic Village.” Instead they are supposed to be “brought back by athletes to their respective home countries and to help them support the campaign to raise awareness (about HIV/AIDS)”, it added.

Originally published as Tokyo Olympics 2021: Six swimmers sent home after embarrassing administrative error