Guinea becomes the second team after North Korea not to send its delegation to the 2020 Olympic Games due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of five athletes were set to represent the west African nation at the Games which are due to open tomorrow against the backdrop of the global health crisis. This plans however came to a standstill when Guinean Minister of Sports Sanoussy Bantama Sow announced that the country will not be participating due to a "resurgence of COVID-19 variants".
Sow explained the decision in a letter addressed to National Olympic and Sports Committee Guinea President Nabi Camara,"Due to the resurgence of COVID-19 variants, the Government, concerned with preserving the health of Guinean athletes, has decided with regret to cancel Guinea’s participation in the Tokyo Olympics," Sow wrote.
Wrestler Fatoumata Yarie Camara, judoka Mamadou Samba Bah, swimmers Fatoumata Lamarana Toure and Mamadou Tahirou Bah and sprinter Aissata Deen Conte were due to compete for Guinea at Tokyo 2020. The big news has come as a shocker since it will be the first time Guinea has not participated in the Games since Montreal 1976. Coronavirus has dominated the build-up to the Games with the number of positive cases linked to the Olympics since July 1 climbing to 82.
Chilean taekwondo athlete Fernanda Aguirre, Dutch skateboarder Candy Jacobs and Czech table tennis player Pavel Širuček have been ruled out of the Games after contracting coronavirus. Yesterday July 21st, Tokyo reported 1,832 new COVID-19 cases, the seventh time this month that the number has exceeded 1,000. The Games fate lies in the balance as officials as still wary of the rising Covid cases.