On the eve of traveling to Beijing for the Winter Olympics, French Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu tested positive for Covid-19.
The Olympic swimming runner-up in Sydney had scheduled her visit to the Chinese capital from February 11 to 15.
Maracineanu announced the result of her test on Twitter on Tuesday.
“I tested positive for Covid as part of the mandatory protocol before leaving for the Winter Olympics. It hurts my heart not to be able to go and support our athletes and express our consideration for them. My thoughts are with them. I continue my duties remotely,” she wrote.
Maracineanu was to be the only French government official to attend the Games, which opened last Friday.
Speaking to French television station RMC on Monday, Maracineanu had confirmed his trip to China “without qualms”. No French official attended the opening ceremony or would attend the closing ceremony.
“Today we are in dialogue with countries around the world,” she said. “It is clearly not a boycott; the President of the Republic has spoken out on the issue. We are in dialogue, we want to affirm France’s positions on all issues vis-à-vis China,” she added.
“For my part, I will go for a few days to support our athletes. I went to Tokyo to support our summer athletes and my place is now with the winter athletes.”
Several countries led by the United States decided to diplomatically boycott the Games on the grounds of human rights violations in China.
On Sunday, the sports minister attended the final day of the Grand Slam of Judo in Paris at the AccorArena stadium where she awarded on the podium the French Margaux Pinot in the 70 kg. Pinot won her first gold in these tournaments by beating Japan’s Saki Niizoe in the final.
Maracineanu is not the first French sports personality to be barred by Covid from traveling to Beijing. The first announcement came from the president of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games organizing committee, Tony Estanguet, at the end of January.
Estanguet, winner of three Olympic gold medals in canoeing, suffered mild symptoms of the disease according to the French press.
The French executive had planned to be in Beijing during the first part of the Games. According to Paris 2024, the general director of the organizing committee, Etienne Thobois, would travel in Estanguet’s place “with a reduced team”.
The president of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee, Brigitte Henriques, and France’s Chef de Mission to the Games, Nathalie Péchalat, were also infected with coronavirus and had to suspend their presence.
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