The Minister of Sports, Roxana Maracineanu announced on Tuesday lunchtime that she had tested positive for Covid-19. She is therefore forced to cancel her trip to Beijing, scheduled for February 11 to 15, for the Winter Olympics.
“I tested positive for Covid as part of the mandatory protocol before the start of the Winter Olympics,” said the minister, the only member of the French government initially scheduled to travel to Beijing. My heart is heavy that I can’t go out and support our athletes and tell them our consideration. My thoughts are with them. I continue my missions remotely. »
This Monday, on the set of RMC, the former swimming champion had confirmed her trip to China. After deadlocked on the opening ceremony, she had said that it was “clearly not a boycott”: “We are in dialogue we want to affirm France’s positions on all subjects vis-à-vis China. For my part, I will go for a few days to support our athletes. I went to Tokyo to support our summer athletes and my place is with them for the winter athletes. »
The Minister is not the only sports personality to find herself in this situation. Tony Estanguet, the president of the organizing committee of the 2024 Olympic Games, had to cancel his trip after also testing positive for Covid-19 at the end of January.
France won its first gold medal on Tuesday through Quentin Fillon Maillet in the 20 km individual biathlon. In the night, Tess Ledeux had taken the big air silver in freestyle skiing. All disciplines combined, the Blues are now five medals (one gold, four silver).