Five track-and-field athletes, including Tokyo Olympics-bound 20km race walker Priyanka Goswami, and a member of the support staff have tested positive for COVID-19 at the Sports Authority of India's Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.
Asian Games 1500m gold-medallist Jinson Johnson, long-distance runner Parul Chaudhary, steeplechaser Chinta Yadav and another race walker Eknath are among the five athletes who have been infected along with Russian race walk coach Alexander Artsybashev.
Another Tokyo Games-bound race walker K T Irfan has returned negative after he was tested as a primary contact of Johnson.
"My test result which came on Monday was positive and I am currently in quarantine in my room. I have fever, not very high, and headache also," Johnson told PTI from Bengaluru.
"Otherwise, I have no major problems. I will have another test in three days and I hope to have a negative result. K T Irfan was also tested as he was my primary contact but his result was negative."
A source in the SAI Centre said that Goswami, Chaudhary, Yadav and Eknath were also COVID-19 positive, apart from Johnson. "Goswami is positive, so is Chinta Yadav, Parul and Eknath. They are all under quarantine at the SAI Centre here," the source said.
Goswami had qualified for Olympics by shattering the national record during the National Open Race Walking Championships in Ranchi in February.
She had clocked 1 hour 28 minutes and 45 seconds, bettering the earlier national record of 1:29:54 in the name of another Tokyo-bound Bhawana Jat.
The Tokyo Olympics qualifying standard in women's 20km race walk is 1:31:00. Bhawana was also tested for COVID-19 and she has returned negative. "My result has returned negative," Bhawana said.
