Sports News | Russian Karate Athlete Positive for COVID

Tokyo, Aug 4 (AP)

A Russian athlete competing in karate has been ruled out of the Tokyo Olympics after testing positive for the coronavirus.

The Russian Karate Federation says on Instagram that Anna Chernysheva will not be able to compete and that her positive test was confirmed by a second test.

The 19-year-old was the Russian Olympic Committee team's only karate athlete at the Olympics. She was due to compete Thursday in the women's 55-kilogram kumite event on the first ever day of Olympic karate competition. It's a new sport on the program in Tokyo.

Olympic organizers also say Algerian weightlifter Walid Bidani has withdrawn from the men's over-109-kilogram event Wednesday “due to health situation which requires him to undergo quarantine.” The statement doesn't mention the cause. Bidani won gold at the African championships in May. (AP)

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