Did Athletes Get COVID In Oct At World Military Games

International athletes at the World Military Games in coronavirus epicentre Wuhan last October may have brought the virus back home with them according to reports in French media.

This new revelation comes after it was discovered that a Frenchman, Amirouche Hammar, 43, had been infected with the coronavirus in the Paris region as early as 27th December.

French media report that investigations into the origins of the COVID-19 virus have revealed there is a possibility it emerged in Wuhan as early as October 2019 when the games took place.

A French delegation took part in the 7th edition of the World Military Games in Wuhan from 18th to 27th October 2019 – just 20 days before the first Chinese person officially became ill with coronavirus – with 402 athletes present, along with 10,000 other athletes from all over the world.

Credit: Newsflash
Elodie Clouvel, 31, at the World Military Games in Wuhan, China in October 2019

According to French news channel BFMTV, a number of athletes returned to France with unusual symptoms, including fevers and body aches.

According to the news channel, none of the returning athletes was tested and the French Army who were responsible for organising their athletes at the military games reportedly confirmed that they had not wanted to test any athletes either.

Doctors have speculated that the virus might have been making its way around before even December, in November or even in October, and the latest revelations seem to underscore that.

BFMTV quotes one athlete, who preferred to remain anonymous, as saying that he originally thought he had simply caught a cold.

However, when news began to emerge of an epidemic in Wuhan, many athletes on a WhatsApp group reportedly began to openly wonder if it was possible that they had contracted the disease too.

Now that it has been revealed that Amirouche Hammar in France had the coronavirus back in December, closer attention is being paid to what these athletes have said.

Local media notes that Elodie Clouvel, a world champion modern pentathlete, was asked on local TV channel Television Loire 7 on 25th March if she was worried about the prospect of potentially having to spend the summer in Japan for the Olympics.

She replied: “No because I think that with Velentin [ed: Belaud, her partner, also a pentathlete] we have already had the coronavirus, well the COVID-19.”

The 31-year-old went on: “We were in Wuhan for the World Military Games at the end of October. And afterwards, we all fell ill. Valentin missed three days of training. Me, I was sick too. […] I had things I had never had before. We weren’t particularly worried because no one was talking about it yet.”

She added: “A lot of athletes at the World Military Games were very ill. We were recently in touch with a military doctor who told us: ‘I think you had it because a lot of people from this delegation were ill.'”

Local media report that since she spoke up on 25th March, many athletes have been asked not to answer questions from journalists and to refer media enquiries to the head of communication of the French armies.

According to French media, athletes who were in Wuhan reportedly received telephone calls from the army a few weeks ago to reassure them. One of these athletes, who also preferred to remain anonymous, is quoted as saying: “We were told: there is no risk, you left on 28th October and the virus arrived on 1st November.”

French media report that sick athletes were also noted in some other delegations, including the Swedish delegation, with people returning to Sweden with strong fevers.


To find out more about the author, editor or agency that supplied this story – please click below.
Story By: Joseph GolderSub-EditorMichael Leidig, Agency: Newsflash

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