Skier Jelinkova leaves Games after previous positive corona test
Adriana Jelinkova leaves the Olympics. The Dutch alpine skier tested positive for corona earlier this week and now has test values around the limit values applied in China, reports sports umbrella organization NOC*NSF. Jelinkova still started in the giant slalom on Monday, but she skips Wednesday’s slalom.
Because of the critical ct value, the value that indicates whether or not someone is infected with the corona virus, Jelinkova was only told on Monday that she was allowed to start. The situation caused a lot of stress for the skier. She doesn’t want to do that again, she says.
“With a proud, but above all disappointed feeling, I have decided in close consultation with my team to fly back immediately,” said Jelinkova. “In a battle against time to be fit in time for the Olympics, at a time when we all also have to watch out for our health, my Olympic debut turned out to be a disappointment.”
Jelinkova contracted the coronavirus in early January. According to NOC*NSF, the positive test in Beijing is probably the result of this, as is the high ct value. Because of her positive test, Jelinkova had no contact with the other members of TeamNL in the past week.
“It was a dream come true when I qualified last year. Because I’ve fought so hard to be here, it’s extra painful to realize that a number of external factors have had a major impact on my mental and physical well-being” , said Jelinkova, who tore her anterior cruciate ligament in January last year at a World Cup match in Slovenia. The day before, she had unofficially qualified for the Games.
Jelinkova missed a gate in the giant slalom on Monday, so her Olympic debut was quickly finished. So there will be a sequel at the earliest in four years. “In consultation with my coach and in order to protect my own health, we have decided that this Olympic adventure for me unfortunately ends here. I am flying home today to give it a place in my own familiar environment,” said Jelinkova, the first Dutch skier at the Olympic Games since Margriet Prajoux-Bouma in Oslo in 1952.