The disappearance of a Ugandan Olympic team athlete displaced to Japan

Tokyo, July 16 (EFE). An athlete from the Ugandan Olympic team, who had been training in a city in western Japan before the games began, went missing within a week, local authorities confirmed to Efe on Friday.

Officials in the town of Izumisano, Osaka Prefecture (west), where the African delegation has its accommodation and training facilities before the competition, noticed the absence of 20-year-old weightlifter Julius Sekitoliko when he was not presented today for his handover. Daily COVID-19 testing is required.

When they went to look for him in his room, he was not there. “At 12:20 we called the police and the officials available went to look for him, but he’s still missing,” the city council’s chief of Olympic affairs said in detail by phone.

The athlete was in the room last night, as confirmed by his colleagues.

He is one of the nine athletes on the team who have been in isolation after two COVID-19 cases were detected upon his arrival in the country on June 19 and have continued to undergo daily tests stipulated in Tokyo 2020’s antiviral regulations.

“The results of all the tests so far have been negative,” said the official responsible for the tests that all members of the Ugandan team underwent.

Strict regulations put in place to hold the “bubble” Tokyo Games in the middle of the pandemic prohibit athletes or other event participants from traveling anywhere other than their hotel, training venue or locations previously approved by the organization. EFE