Swimmers Sasha Gatt of Malta and Blake Pieroni of the United States are the latest to test positive for COVID-19 at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, indicating continued spread of the virus throughout the athlete population, while American David Johnston, who tested positive earlier this week, is still trying to take a go in the 1500 free.
Gatt and Pieroni join at least five other swimmers who have tested positive for the virus that locked down the Tokyo 2020 Olympics but that is without universal protocols at this year’s Games.
Gatt, 19, is swimming at her second Olympics as Malta’s top swimmer. She finished 22nd in the 400 free and 33rd in the 1500 free at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics as one of the youngest competitors in swimming. In Paris, she was entered in only the 1500 as the 17th seed out of 17 entries, finishing 16th out of 16 swimmers after Australia’s Lani Pallister, who also tested positive for COVID-19, scratched the race.
A spokesperson for the Maltese Olympic Committee told the Times of Malta that Gatt tested positive after the 1500, but that her symptoms impacted her performance. Her time of 17:00.54 was well short of her lifetime best and Maltese Record of 16:38.75 done in 2021.
Pieroni is done competing and has been moved to a hotel further from the Olympic village to isolate. Swimmers who are done competing and test positive are being moved further from the Village and competition venues to free up more room for other athletes who are still racing.
Johnston, meanwhile, remains in a hotel near the Athlete Village, sources tell SwimSwam, and will still try to compete in the men’s 1500 free prelims on Saturday morning.
Johnston has a bit of a different calculus – while the 1500 free is his only pool swimming event, it is the event through which he qualified for next week’s open water 10km swim. According to World Aquatics rules, countries like the US that have zero or one swimmer qualify for open water via the traditional qualifying pathway (Ivan Puskovitch) are able to enter swimmers in the open water event that comes after the conclusion of pool swimming, but only if they hit an Olympic time standard in the 800 or 1500 and swim those races this week at the Olympics.
Pieroni joins a list of at least 11 aquatic athletes who have tested positive for COVID-19, including at least 5 members of the Australian women’s water polo team prior to the start of competition.
Other swimmers to test positive including superstar British breaststroker Adam Peaty after his silver in the 100 breast, the aforementioned Pallister, and European Junior champion Vlad Stancu of Romania, who withdrew from the men’s 1500 free.
There is no universal policy on athlete participation with COVID-19. The aforementioned Australian women’s water polo team, for example, continued training despite those five positive tests.
While the current strains of the COVID-19 virus generally have more mild symptoms than the strain that gripped the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, it is still dangerous for high-risk populations and can still create long-COVID symptoms, though research on long COVID is still evolving. COVID-19 spreads more easily than the common flu, and even medically-mild symptoms can still impact athletes’ performances at the Olympics.
Hypothetically, if Blake was a relay-only swimmer in an event that hasn’t competed yet, then what would happen?
There seems to be fairly strict rules that the relay-only swimmers HAVE to compete, but it would be in everyone’s best interest if he did not. Would the relay be disqualified? Would the US be “fined”? Maybe the IOC requiring him to isolate means no punishment?
Every day I wake up dreading to read headlines that some major US athlete was forced to withdraw after getting COVID.
I wasn’t super worried about this back in Tokyo thanks to the strict protocols in place.
11 aquatic athletes. Anyone see a number of athletes overall?
I have not. Most of the recent reporting I can find is around swimmers, usually citing our reports. Doesn’t seem to have hit other sports as much. Haven’t heard it brought up in watching other sports as a reason for any absences.
Thank you!
I think so many of us have raced while sick..I was on a relay at Nationals going for an American Record..I had gotten ill a day or two before..full on flu, later diagnosed as pneumonia..needless to say, I did not swim well, and no American Record..in another Scenario, a friend of mine was in the hospital for 5 days before his first Olympic event..he swam..took the silver, and later another gold and silver. It’s the OLYMPICS you may never get another opportunity..if Johnston feels he can compete..go for it!!
Are they doing routine testing or only if they have symptoms?
People who have symptoms are getting tested. Sounds like there is some testing happening of close contacts too so they can figure out how to stop it from spreading.
There’s no “testing everyone” program that we’re aware of.
There’s no routine testing this Olympics. Only those choosing to test are being tested. The three members of the U.S. men’s team who have test positive and announced their positive tests were staying in three different apartments so the potential for superspread among the U.S. team is high. I really hope the remaining members of the team start masking to protect themselves – and others, as it’s likely more members of the men’s team are positive given the three positives being distributed through the apartments.
Ugh, this is awful. Work your whole life towards an Olympic goal and get sick at exactly the wrong time. 🙁
Yeah hope they stay safe and I think I also saw Lily King masking when she arrived on the outside for the prelims this morning and that’s a good thing
I have no idea, but I assume they test when there are symptoms or people are not feeling well.