U.S. bobsledder Josh Williamson tested positive for the coronavirus on Sunday morning and will not be on a Team USA flight to Beijing on Thursday but could get on a later flight to the Olympics, according to his social media.
“This has not been an easy pill to swallow,” Williams posted. “I have felt pretty helpless throughout this process, but I’ve also found myself laughing a bit at the situation I’m in. Isn’t it ironic that after 4 years of hard work, all there is to do is sit, rest, recover and have faith? Things I struggle to do the most.
“There are later flights running to Beijing throughout the Olympics in anticipation of things like this, I just need consistent negatives to be on one.”
U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton can’t comment on whether any other athlete’s Olympic travel is affected by COVID, a spokesperson said, citing HIPAA regulations.
“As with Josh, any athlete who tests positive will have the opportunity to test negative and make a flight in time to train/compete,” a U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee spokesperson said.
Williamson, one of six male push athletes on the U.S. Olympic roster, has time.
The Olympic two-man bobsled event is Feb. 14-15, 10 days after the Opening Ceremony. U.S. Bobsled has not announced which two of the six push athletes will compete in that event.
The four-man event, where all six push athletes compete, is Feb. 19-20, the final weekend of the Games.
Williamson, 25, made his first Olympic team this year. In 2017, he won Team USA’s “Scouting Camp: The Next Olympic Hopeful” to break into bobsled after playing lacrosse at Mercer University in Georgia.
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