WASHINGTON — An alternate on the U.S women’s gymnastics team has tested positive in Japan for COVID-19 just days before the Tokyo Olympics are set to begin, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee said Monday.
The gymnast tested positive while at a training camp in Narita, Japan.
The gymnast, whose name has yet to be released, is between the age of 10 and 19, Japanese officials told media outlets. That age range ruled out several members of the team including Simone Biles, Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles and MyKayla Skinner, who are all in their 20s.
The only members of the team who would have fallen in that age range were Suni Lee, Grace Mccallum and all four of the team’s replacement athletes.
USOPC later confirmed that it was one of the team’s replacement athletes who tested positive.
“The health and safety of our athletes, coaches and staff is our top priority. We can confirm that an alternate on the women’s artistic gymnastics team tested positive for COVID-19,” the USOPC statement said. “In alignment with local rules and protocols, the athlete has been transferred to a hotel to quarantine. Out of respect for the individual’s privacy, we cannot provide more information at this time.”
The four alternates — Leanne Wong, Kayla DiCello, Emma Malabuyo and Kara Eaker — traveled to Japan with the six-woman U.S. delegation.
The alternates are rooming and training with the alternates. While they have been traveling to training along with the actual team, they have been split into groups, with the team working on one apparatus while the alternates work on another.
The U.S. women’s team dealt with what USA Gymnastics called a “false positive” over the weekend for an unidentified athlete but the ensuing test results for the athlete were negative, according to the organization.
NBC News reported that another team member identified as a “close contact” of the gymnast who tested positive has been placed “on standby.”
Around the time that the news broke, Biles and other members of the team were posting photos of themselves in the Olympic Village, which would indicate they aren’t in isolation.
The positive test was the latest in growing line of daily reports of athletes and others testing positive at the pandemic-delayed Olympics. The unnamed gymnast was the first American to test positive in Japan.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.