Winter Olympics: IOC intervenes as tearful Belgian skeleton racer Kim Meylemans breaks down in ‘totally unacceptable’ Beijing 2022 isolation
- Meylemans posts emotional video documenting her ordeal after being put in fresh quarantine facility instead of Olympic Village, despite negative PCR tests
- IOC statement says 25-year-old will be moved to single room in Village on Thursday after outcry on social media
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has intervened after Belgian skeleton racer Kim Meylemans posted an emotional video on social media documenting her treatment in isolation ahead of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
After testing positive for Covid-19 upon arrival in China, Meylemans said she was told she could leave a quarantine hotel after three days of isolation and multiple negative PCR tests.
But rather than return her to the Olympic Village, an ambulance took the 25-year-old to another nearby facility for seven additional days of isolation, where she broke down in tears on Wednesday as she recalled her ordeal from her room.
The Global Athlete organisation decried the treatment of Meylemans as “totally unacceptable”, with the IOC swiftly releasing a statement saying she will be given a room in the Olympic Village on Thursday.
“Hi everybody. Some of you have read the good news that I was sent out of the isolation facility,” Meylemans said in her video. “We thought this would mean I was allowed to return to the Olympic Village and be treated maximum as a close contact.
“On the way to the Village we did not turn to the Village, but the ambulance went to another facility where I am now.
“I am supposed to stay here for another seven days with two PCRs [tests] a day and no contact with anybody else. I am allowed to slide alone. We are not even sure I will ever be allowed to enter the Village.”