After a pair of positive coronavirus tests resulted in 51 members of the Brazilian Paralympic delegation being placed in isolation upon arrival in Japan, the athletes have now been able to begin training.
As reported by Best Swimming’s Alex Pussieldi, the two asymptomatic positive cases did not come from athletes, and both were were immediately placed into quarantine.
The group of 51 athletes and staff that traveled with the positive cases, including 14 swimmers, were initially placed into isolation as well, and were facing 14 days stuck in their rooms prior to the Games.
However, the Brazilian Paralympic Committee received authorization on August 10 that the athletes, who are in the Japanese city of Hamamatsu for staging camp, are able to resume training, though it will be at different times from the rest of the delegation.
Hamamatsu is approximately 250 kilometers (or 155 miles) southwest of Tokyo.
Brazilian paralympic swimmer Daniel Dias had posted on Instagram calling for the initial decision to be reversed, as all athletes had tested negative for the virus upon arrival.
He posted again after he got into the water for the first time after the athletes were allowed to begin training:
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Dias won all four of Brazil’s Paralympic swimming gold medals in 2016, and tied for the lead among all individual swimmers with nine total medals.
The Brazilian team won 19 swimming medals on home soil at those 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio, ranking seventh among all nations.
The U.S. Paralympic team is currently in camp at Yokota Air Base, 50 km west of Tokyo, and will head to the Paralympic Village on August 20.
The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic will begin on Tuesday, August 24, with the swimming events beginning August 25.
Good luck Daniel!