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Positive Covid tests rule Fernanda Aguirre and Candy Jacobs out of Tokyo 2020

Fernanda Aguirre was due to compete on Sunday in the same -57kg category as Jade Jones.

Mark Staniforth
Wednesday 21 July 2021 08:07 BST
Candy Jacobs is out of the Olympic Games
Candy Jacobs is out of the Olympic Games (PA Archive)

A Chilean taekwondo player and a Dutch skateboarder have become the first athletes to be ruled out of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics after testing positive for coronavirus.

Fernanda Aguirre, who was due to compete on Sunday in the same -57kg category as Jade Jones posted two positive tests after arriving in Tokyo from Uzbekistan.

Meanwhile 31-year-old Candy Jacobs, who was due to compete in the women’s street event on Monday, is also out after testing positive.

Jacobs is the fourth athlete to test positive in the Olympic Village, after South African footballers, Thabiso Monyane and Kamohelo Mahlatsi and Czech beach volleyball player Ondrej Perusic, all of whom could conceivably still compete once they have completed their 10-day quarantine.

Jacobs told Dutch media: “I’m devastated. We were ready for the Games, I feel fit and now it’s over.”

The Chilean Olympic Committee confirmed that Aguirre had been transferred to a government facility where she will remain until the end of her quarantine period.

Kara Eaker, an alternate on the US gymnastics team, also tested positive and is in quarantine, along with a seventh, unnamed athlete.

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