Paris 2024 Olympics: Five Australian water polo players test positive for COVID-19

Five players of the Australian women's water polo team have tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics, which officially gets underway on Friday.

“There have been five athletes in total who have tested positive,” Australian chef de mission Anna Meares confirmed on Wednesday during a press conference.

Meares added that the cases were confined to the Aussie Stingers and the players will be allowed to practice with protocols in place.

“If those five athletes are feeling well enough to train, they will and they are following all the protocols that we have,” Meares informed.

Meares added that the Australian Olympic Committee had encouraged athletes to get tested for COVID-19 if they felt unwell. The entire water polo team was tested.

“They (affected players) have been wearing their masks, they are isolating from other team members when they are not training, they are not going into the high-volume areas of the allotment like the gym and the performance pantry and more broadly, we have our respiratory illnesses protocol in place.”

The Aussie Stingers are in Group A at the Paris Olympics with 2008 gold medallists Netherlands, Hungary, Canada and the People’s Republic of China. The Australian team is scheduled to play its first match against China on Sunday (AEST).

The teams finishing in the top four of their respective groups will head into the quarter-finals.

“We treat COVID no differently to any other respiratory illness but we want to ensure that we have our protocols working as well and dealing with these illnesses and minimising them is a part and parcel of every Olympic Games,” Meares stated.