5 athletes Covid positive in SAI Bengaluru camp; wrestling camps shut as precaution

All Tokyo-bound wrestlers, including women, are in Almaty for the ongoing Asian Championships. The WFI in consultation with authorities concerned though has suspended the camps at SAI’s Sonepat and Lucknow centres.

Five track and field athletes, including Tokyo Olympics-bound woman race walker Priyanka Goswami, and a support staff tested positive for Covid-19 at the Sports Authority of India Centre in Bengaluru on Tuesday, raising serious concerns through various preparatory camps. The Wrestling Federation of India decided to discontinue national camps for men and women till further orders.

Multi-purpose stadiums such as the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi, which used to be the training base for many international athletes as well as Sports Authority of India (SAI) campers, have been blocked for hosting Indian Super League (ISL) matches. (Getty Images)

All Tokyo-bound wrestlers, including women, are in Almaty for the ongoing Asian Championships. The WFI in consultation with authorities concerned though has suspended the camps at SAI’s Sonepat and Lucknow centres.

“All 11 wrestlers and a coach at the national camp here have been asked to go home immediately as per instructions from the SAI headquarters,” SAI executive director, Sanjay Saraswat, said late on Tuesday.

“Now the wrestlers at Almaty would go directly to their homes (on return),” he said. “At least two coaches of other games who come here daily from outside too have tested positive and have been asked to stay in home isolation.”