Belgian Olympian Kim Meylemans has been released from isolation in Beijing after pleading for help due to her treatment ahead of the games.
The 25-year-old skeleton racer was forced into isolation after she tested positive for Covid-19 upon arrival in the Chinese capital.
Mistakenly thinking she could return to the Olympic Village after three days of isolation and two consecutive negative tests, she was instead taken to a separate government facility. Fighting back tears, she said she may never get to enter the Olympic Village.
Hours after her cries for help Wednesday, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) intervened and secured her release.
“I am now in a wing that is just isolation, but at least I am back in the village,” Meylemans said on Instagram. “I feel safe and I’ll be able to train a little better here.”
Meylemans said she tested negative a dozen times prior to her departure and was miffed by her positive result.
Meylemans’ story is one of many highlighting the strict measures in China—one of the few places continuing to adhere to a zero-COVID policy.
Another measure is the “Closed Loop System”—a bubble housing all the games completely cut off from the rest of the city and its wider population.
Anyone inside testing positive will be immediately removed; symptomatic patients will be sent to a designated hospital, while asymptomatic people will be taken to isolation. Their bubble return won’t be allowed until all symptoms disappear and they consecutively test negative.
Some positive-testing athletes have given up any hope of competing.
Russian Olympic Committee’s biathlete Valeria Vasnetsova said her hopes were dashed after two positive tests on her Beijing arrival. American bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor was also forced into isolation after testing positive for the virus two days after her arrival last week.
“This is just the latest obstacle that my family and I have faced on this journey, so I’m remaining optimistic that I’ll be able to recover quickly and still have the opportunity to compete,” the latter said.
Overall, there have been more than 280 COVID cases—102 of which coming from athletes and team officials—coming from inside the (alleged) closed loop.
