BTahli Gill and her playing partner Dean Hewitt hadn’t made too much of a splash at the Olympic curling tournament so far. The Australians, who qualified for the Olympics for the first time, had lost all seven games played so far in the mixed doubles competition. But before the final games against Switzerland and Canada this Sunday, they were suddenly the focus of attention – albeit highly involuntarily and not for sporting reasons.
Tahli Gill, 22, had tested positive for Corona as the first active athlete during an ongoing competition at these Olympics. And should therefore immediately leave the tournament, the city and the country. The Australian NOK had already tried to get the duo from Brisbane home as quickly as possible.
But after hours of hanging around, the Chinese health authorities surprisingly decided differently on Sunday. The young curler was allowed to leave the quarantine hotel and even compete against the Swiss Jenny Perret and Martin Rios. The medical commission had announced that Tahli Gill’s CT value was within an acceptable range after a PCR test. The value serves as an indication of the possible risk of infection by a person.
Australia’s Olympic team chief of missions, Geoff Lipshut, said the pair were delighted to be able to compete again. “We are thrilled for Tahli and Dean, having previously announced that the couple would no longer be able to compete,” he said.
After a previous Covid illness, Gill’s CT value was below the limit of 35 applicable to the games before the trip to Beijing. However, she had to contest the entire tournament as a “pre-ill” subject under strict rules. Huang Chun, responsible for pandemic prevention in the organizing committee, always emphasized: “We have to be very vigilant when it comes to closed-loop control measures so that clusters do not occur.” In total, the organizers reported ten new corona cases on Sunday, including six athletes or team members. The total is currently 363.
Tahli Gill was surprisingly unfazed by the chaos. Together with Dean Hewitt, she managed to take a 3-0 lead against the favored Swiss in the first two ends and didn’t let a temporary 3-6 deficit upset her. In the end, the Australians won the game 9:6 and celebrated their first point of the tournament. Of course, this respectable success did not change anything in tenth and last place in the tableau. Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner are still at the top of the rankings. The two Italians achieved their seventh win in seven games with an 8-4 win against China, becoming the first team to reach the semi-finals.
