The Olympics under the threat of Covid-19

2024-07-19 15:00:09
Briton Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) has decided to continue competing in the Tour de France despite testing positive for Covid-19. Here, on July 13, 2024, in Pau.

Olympic Games held successfully (July 26 to August 11), so will the Paralympic Games (August 28 to September 8) be disrupted by the resurgence of the Covid-19 pandemic? Both activities should attract According to the Paris Tourist Office’s forecast, there are 15 million tourists in the Paris region, including nearly 2 million foreigners.

This population mixing may favor the spread of the virus, especially its current dominant variants, especially JN.1, which appears to be better able to evade our immune defenses than its predecessors.

Progress at the Tour de France (June 29-July 21), the last major international sporting event on French soil before the Olympics, following five of the 176 riders officially abandoned it due to Covid-19 It shows, foreshadowing what may happen during the two weeks of the Olympics.

Masks required, classes shortened

Although the first Covid-19 cases emerged during the Critérium du Dauphiné event (June 2-9), tour organizers were slow to react. The Amauri Sports Organization (ASO), the organizer of both events, did not implement health protocols at the start of the Grande Boucle competition.

After the first confirmed cases among the main Tour de France team, the company finally asked reporters on July 14 to wear masks in areas where they might come into contact with riders and their team members.

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In the absence of real health protocols, each cycling team has adopted its own strategy in the face of the virus. While most people won’t take any risks and prefer to remove runners with symptoms from the race, not everyone is on this line. At Ineos Grenadier, Englishman Geraint Thomas, although positive, decided to move on.

Several positive cases were also detected among swimmers during the French Swimming Championships (June 16-21), prompting the federation to react. Currently, journalists at the French team’s Vichy (Allier) training camp from July 13 to 23 must present a negative test result and must wear a mask during interviews. Swimmers also wore masks.

On July 8, the French Judo Federation decided to shorten the French men’s team’s preparation sessions at the Center for Resources, Expertise and Sports Performance in Montpellier following a competitor tested positive.

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