(Reuters) – Two-times Olympic gold medallist Andreas Wellinger’s participation at next month’s Beijing Games is in doubt after the German ski jumper said he had tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday.
The 26-year-old, who won individual gold in Pyeongchang and team gold in Sochi, was due to return to action in a World Cup event in Titisee-Neustadt on Friday after hurting his knee during training in Zakopane earlier this month.
“After recovering (from) my knee (injury) I unfortunately received a positive PCR test,” Wellinger said on social media.
“This means I also cannot jump this weekend even though I would have been fully motivated to go back to ski jumping. I’m doing fine so far and have to move on now.”
The German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) have confirmed Karl Geiger, Markus Eisenbichler and Stephan Leyhe for the Games, and are expected to add two more men’s ski jumpers to the squad on Jan. 22.
The Beijing Winter Olympics begin on Feb. 4.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
