Coronavirus: Members of Olympic team negative after second test

Two members of the Cyprus’ Olympic games delegation who had tested positive for coronavirus tested negative in a second test, the head of the Cypriot delegation Andreas Theofylaktou said on Wednesday.

Road cyclist Antri Christoforou and her husband, Marios Athanasiades, who accompanied her to Tokyo, had initially tested positive for Covid-19, it emerged on Monday.

They are both vaccinated against the virus.

The news was announced by Christoforou on her personal social media account, saying she had expected to test negative.

The professional athlete also condemned certain media who leaked the information and her identity without “waiting for a confirmatory result”, thus “causing concern and anxiety” to her family and friends.

Speaking from Tokyo, Theofylaktou said “all the samples came back negative” from the Cyprus’ delegation, which justified their initial concerns regarding the reliability of the preliminary tests, he said.

The athlete and her partner were supposed to depart from Tokyo for Cyprus on Tuesday, but were instead isolating at a Tokyo-based hotel.

The coach of the athlete had also tested negative, but was also self-isolating, Theofylaktou had said on Monday.

“Our goal is for everyone to return healthy, and the second goal of course is to bring medals to our Cyprus and success,” he had added.

So far, 169 people connected to the games from all nations tested positive for Covid-19 according to the official Olympic games website.