BEIJING (Reuters) – Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) women’s ice hockey player Polina Bolgareva has tested positive for COVID-19, the RIA news agency reported on Tuesday, a day after confusion over test results caused an hour delay in their game against Canada.
The Canadian women’s ice hockey team refused to take the ice on Monday at the Beijing Games while they waited for the ROC’s COVID-19 test results and later played wearing masks due to “safety and security concerns.”
The ROC removed their masks in the third period but Canada retained theirs before recording a routine 6-1 victory nL8N2UI0G0 in the preliminary game.
ROC team coach Evgeny Bobariko later told RIA that forward Bolgareva tested positive.
“Everybody saw how we played against Canada with masks and took them off after the second period, when we received the results of our tests. They were all negative,” he told the state news agency.
“We arrived at the Olympic Village after the game against Canada and found out that Polina had tested positive for the coronavirus.
“I don’t understand how this happened. Her test in the morning that had shown a negative result suddenly became positive.”
The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Hockey Canada said on Monday that one of their players, Emily Clark, left the ice during a pre-game warm-up against the ROC and did not return after producing an inconclusive test result before the contest.
Clark participated in Tuesday’s preliminary game against the United States.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery and Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber in Beijing; additional reporting by Steve Keating; Editing by Ken Ferris)
