(Reuters) – British athlete Morgan Lake was forced to pull out of the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday after the 25-year-old tested positive for COVID-19.
Lake, who won gold medals in heptathlon and high jump in the junior worlds in Oregon in 2014, spent the previous five days in isolation without showing any symptoms but said she was still testing positive for the virus.
“Absolutely heartbroken to have to watch from my hotel room and whilst I’m grateful to be feeling 100% fine, it’s even more frustrating to know that I am physically ready to compete but can’t,” she tweeted.
“Being super careful (avoiding crowds, wearing a mask, hand sanitising etc) it’s even more disappointing to have picked this up in a holding camp ‘bubble’.”
Lake said she would channel her energy into the Commonwealth Games starting in Birmingham on July 28 as well as the European Championships next month.
“All I can do now is to look forward to the next two championships this summer and navigate the form I got to in this holding camp to peak for those,” she added.
Her withdrawal comes after British pole vaulter Holly Bradshaw pulled out on Friday after snapping her pole and landing awkwardly during warm-ups.
British marathon runner Chris Thompson will also miss the worlds after being unable to obtain an American visa in time for the competition.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
