Ugandan Olympian on his way to start a new life in Japan

Ugandan Olympic athlete disappeared since Friday He fled with the intention of starting a new lifeAccording to a note he found in his room he wrote: I want to work in Japan.

20-year-old weightlifter Julius Sekitoliko was in Izumisano, Japan, where The Ugandan Olympic team has its own accommodation and training facilities before the Tokyo Olympics.

The athlete left his hotel without warning early Friday Bought an express train ticket (“Shinkansen”) bound for NagoyaAbout 200 kilometers away, according to new details of the investigation published by local news agency Kyodo, Saturday.

According to Izumisano officials, Sikitoliko wrote in his memo that he did not want to return to Uganda due to the difficult living conditions in the African country. He asked the members of his delegation to hand over their belongings to his wife in her homeland.

The whereabouts of the athlete is still unknown at this timeAlthough a Ugandan representative was able to reach him by phone on Friday afternoon without obtaining further information.

The staff who supervised the stay of the sports delegation in Izumisano Note Ssekitoleko’s absence when he didn’t show up yesterday morning to deliver the daily covid-19 test. wanted.

The athlete was in the room the night before, according to his teammates.

The weightlifter is one of nine athletes on the team who have been in isolation After testing positive for COVID-19 upon his arrival in Japan on June 19, he continued to undergo daily tests stipulated in the Tokyo 2020 antiviral regulations, along with the rest of the team.

Sikitoliko would have gone home with his coach next weekIn a statement sent to Kyodo, Beatrice Ayekuru, Ugandan Olympic mission chief, said that during regular briefings, the team emphasized the need to “respect Japan’s immigration regulations and not choose to leave the camp without permission.”

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.

The incident occurred a week after the Olympics opened in the Japanese capital and raised concern about the anti-fatal measures implemented for the event and amid a rebound in COVID-19 cases in the capital.

FCM