Current time in Tokyo: July 29, 11:39 p.m.
TOKYO — Sam Kendricks, the reigning world champion in the men’s pole vault, was ruled out of the Tokyo Games after he tested positive for the coronavirus, U.S. Olympic officials announced on Thursday.
His positive result had immediate repercussions inside the athletes’ village. All 41 athletes and 13 officials from Australia’s track and field team returned to their rooms and briefly isolated as a precautionary measure after three of the team’s athletes reported that they had interacted with Kendricks. After all three returned negative tests, the rest of the team was allowed to return to its normal activities.
The news of Kendricks’s positive test, and the potential consequences for Australia, was a chaotic development the day before the start of the full slate of track and field competition. Kendricks, 28, who won a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics, had been expected to contend for a medal again in Tokyo, but his sudden exit was another indication of the precarious nature of these Olympics.
Olympic organizers on Thursday reported 24 new coronavirus infections among Olympic personnel, including three athletes. Kendricks is the sixth American athlete to test positive.
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee said in a statement that Kendricks had been…
