Winter Olympics 2022: Aussie curler Tahli Gill cleared to compete in Beijing after ‘positive’ Covid test

The first Australian to test positive for Covid at the Winter Olympics has been identified after being cleared to compete in Beijing.

Athletes and those working at the Winter Olympics have had to submit themselves to brutal testing regimes. Picture: AFP

The Australian Winter Olympian who initially tested positive to Covid on arrival in Beijing has been cleared to compete after returning two subsequent negative results.

Tahli Gill - who teamed up with Dean Hewitt to become the first Aussies to qualify in curling at the Winter Olympics, confirmed that she was the athlete who tested positive at the airport but it was a false alarm.

Gill said she contracted Covid while training in Canada earlier this month and was cleared to travel after testing negative but the ultra-sensitive equipment at Beijing airport detected her past infection.

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However, she underwent two additional tests which proved she was Covid clear and given the green light to compete when the mixed doubles event starts on Wednesday.

In a joint statement with her team mate Hewitt, she said: “We are greatly relieved as a team, that goes without saying.

“But importantly for us both as a team, this experience is not going to define our Olympic campaign.

‘We have treated this time as a rest day and a time to really focus on our Olympic goals.

Tahli Gill with curling partner Dean Hewitt. Picture: Vincent Jannink/ANP/AFP

“We look forward to representing Australia with pride and making history for our sport.”

The Australian team chef de mission Geoff Lipshut said it was a huge relief that the pair could now compete after they defied the odds by winning seven matches in a row against top international opponents to qualify.

“They have dealt with this extremely well and we are very proud of them. Now they can resume their preparation for the start of competition on Wednesday,” he said.

“We are looking forward to Tahli and Dean becoming our very first curling Olympians.”

Although Australia lacks the state of the art facilities and the huge participation numbers the sport’s powerhouse nations enjoy, the in-form Aussies are not without a hope of winning a medal in Beijing.

Fourth at the 2019 world championships, they are one of only 10 countries to have secured a spot in the mixed doubles at Beijing which promises to be one of the most watched sports events at the Games.

The curling competition will be held at the same iconic venue that hosted the swimming events at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

Australia chef de mission Geoff Lipshut (right) is not panicking just yet. Picture: AAP/Paul Miller

Known then as the ‘Water Cube’ but since renamed the “Ice Cube”, it is the same venue where Stephanie Rice, Leisel Jones and Libby Trickett all won gold medals for Australia and American Olympic legend Michael Phelps won eight.

Hewitt, whose father Steve represented Australia at the 1992 Winter Olympics when curling was an exhibition sport, told News Corp he hoped the inclusion of an Australian team would be a gamechanger for the sport in the country.

“I hope it’s going to be huge. I hope it’s going to be a moment where more people get to see it get out there and give it a go,” he said.

“Hopefully in the future, we can actually get a dedicated curling rink built as well.

“That would be the ultimate goal for Australia as well because we have to travel overseas to get any kind of dedicated curling ice.

“There’s a huge difference between playing on skating or hockey ice versus dedicated curling ice. So hopefully it does wonders for the sport in Australia because the membership is fairly low at the moment.”

China’s heavy-handed approach to stop the spread of Covid has come under fire because they are using ultra-sensitive equipment that are detecting tiny traces of old infections in foreign athletes.

AOC CEO Matt Carroll. Picture: Josh Woning

This has led to a spike in case numbers that have already ruined the Olympic dreams of some athletes.

Australian team doctor Peter Braun said it was unsure whether positive test results came from a fresh infection or remnants from a previous contagion that the Chinese airport swabs pick up.

“It’s not uncommon that viral fragments are picked up in the airport and then subsequent confirmatory of additional tests proves negative,” he said.

Braun said no other team members were regarded as close contacts and the individual who tested positive went straight into isolation.

“The team member fully understands what the situation is and what the process is, and they quite happy and comfortable just to ride it out and see what the answer is,” he said.

“There’s no stress about this. It’s not an unexpected situation so everyone’s prepared.”

Although Australian officials don’t hold any major fears for the health of team members because everyone has already been at least double vaccinated, officials issued a chilling warning to athletes last month that could be kicked out of the Games simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“We obviously hope it won’t happen but there’s a high chance it could,” AOC chief executive Matt Carroll told News Corp.

To minimise the risk of infection, members of the Australian team have been arriving in China at staggered times, depending on when their sports start.

Only 12 Aussie athletes have touched down so far, with the majority expected to arrive in the days leading up to Friday’s Opening Ceremony.

Australia’s first scheduled competition events are in mixed curling, which starts on Wednesday,

In another devastating blow for the Australian team, alpine skier Madi Hoffman - who had been selected for her Olympic debut - has already been ruled out of the Games after injuring her knee while competing in the United States last week.

“I guess this is how my cookie crumbles,” the 21-year-old Hoffman said on her Instagram page.

China’s heavy-handed Covid testing procedures have come under the spotlight. Picture: Getty

“I tore my ACL racing the Utah Invitational after getting named to the Olympic team.

“The universe just gave me a pretty big kick in the gut but alas, ski racing I will see you soon.”

Hoffman’s withdrawal reduces the overall size of the Australian team to at least 43.

Lipshut said it was too late to replace her so Greta Small, Katie Parker and Louis Muhlen-Schulte would fly the Australian flag in alpine skiing.

“Madi had been having a fantastic season and earned her Olympic selection. She is a great alpine talent and this isn’t the end of her Olympic story,” Lipshut said.

“I know this is a devastating moment for any young athlete, but Madi has the strength and support network to come back from this ahead of Milan Cortina 2026.”

‘Hole in throat: Brutal Covid testing decimates Olympic village

- Jacquelin Magnay

At least 23 Olympic athletes and team officials have tested positive to Covid in the past few days after enduring “brutal” testing upon arrival at the Beijing airport throwing Olympic Games plans into disarray.

Olympic bosses are alarmed that some big names in the winter sports world are being ruled out: the latest being Norwegian double Olympic cross country ski champion Simen Krueger.

Russian skating champion Mikhail Kolyada tested positive just before he was due to leave for Beijing, mirroring the same circumstance of US bobsled Josh Williamson. Norway’s nine-time world champion cross country skiers Heidi Weng and Anne Kjersti Kalvå are currently in isolation and hoping for two negative tests to be released in time for their competitions.

None of Australia’s athletes have tested positive as of Friday, but most will arrive in the coming days.

Norway’s champion cross country skier Simen Krueger has been ruled out of the Games. Picture: Getty Images

There are fears that a German team member has coronavirus and has spread it to some athletes.

Those who have tested positive are waiting for confirmatory tests over the weekend.

Meanwhile officials from some teams have complained that the mandatory testing process at Beijing airport is so extreme that the testers “tried to take out the brain and make a hole in a throat”. Athletes have been left with bleeding noses and throats still painful after several days, prompting complaints to authorities.

All Olympic Games participants have to pass the airport arrivals testing or else be placed in isolation facilities or a Chinese hospital for an indeterminate period of time.

On Friday, when country delegations began to arrive the number of athletes and team officials testing positive skyrocketed.

Beijing organisers have not broken down how many of the positives were athletes and how many were team officials. But out of 1418 tests conducted on that day there were 19 team members testing positive compared to two the previous day, and another one positive team member from last week. As well extra daily testing has picked up another seven positives.

In addition 57 other stakeholders, including broadcasters and media have tested positive at the airport and placed into isolation.

Athletes and those working at the Winter Olympics have had to submit themselves to brutal testing regimes. Picture: AFP

Coupled with over 70 positives from earlier in the month, the number of positive cases is getting close to 200.

The testing rate is prompting high alarm among officials and athletes, who fear China’s extreme zero Covid measures are creating unfair competitions. One concern is that the sophisticated tests are picking up dead remnants of the virus in people who have had Covid recently, but have recovered and are not infectious. There is also worry that the airport testing is cruel and causing unnecessary distress.

Khazakstan official Togzhan Khamzina reported: “ Our team arrived today to Beijing and the PCR test for everybody at the airport was such a horrible experience that couple of our delegates had their nose bleeding after the test and their throat still hurts.”

She added:” It felt like “they tried to take out the brain and make a hole in a throat”. This is causing such a discomfort for all the delegates and they don’t want to do that again.”

She asked for the testing to be more gentle.

Russian ski president Elena Vyalbe told Norwegian television that “there will be no good Olympics” and that the Games should have been postponed for a year.

Ends

Originally published as Winter Olympics 2022: Aussie curler Tahli Gill cleared to compete in Beijing after ‘positive’ Covid test