The Beijing Olympics will open Friday without several athletes and at least one International Olympic Committee member who have tested positive for the coronavirus in the final days before the Games.
The athletes come from a variety of sports and at least a half-dozen countries, and include at least two American medal contenders.
Elana Meyers Taylor, a three-time Olympic medalist and one of the most decorated American bobsledders in history, said Tuesday that she had tested positive for the coronavirus shortly after arriving in Beijing for the Winter Olympics. Meyers Taylor, 37, who revealed her positive test in a post on Instagram, must return two negative test results to be released and to compete.
Olympic gold medal hopeful Elana Meyers Taylor (@eamslider24) shows what life in COVID isolation is like pic.twitter.com/kLb7J6kXRL
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) February 2, 2022
She is at least the second U.S. bobsledder affected in recent days. Josh Williamson, a member of the men’s two-man and four-man sleds, tested positive last week, part of what has been reported to be a larger outbreak involving coaches and others close to the team. “This has not been an easy pill to swallow,” Williamson wrote of missing the chance to accompany his teammates to China.
The IOC member who tested positive, Emma Terho of Finland, announced her result on Instagram and said she would continue her work remotely while in isolation. Terho serves as chair of the IOC’s Athletes’…
