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Winter Olympics sidelights: Two Swiss freestyle skiers contract norovirus

Last updated on: February 16, 2018 10:21 IST

Winter Olympics

IMAGE: The Olympic rings are pictured at the Alpensia resort for the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games. Photograph: Fabrizio Bensch

Two Swiss freestyle skiers have contracted the norovirus, the Swiss team said on Friday, becoming the first confirmed cases among athletes at the Pyeongchang Winter Games.

 

A Swiss team spokesperson said one of athletes was Fabian Boesch but not want to name the other as the athlete's relatives had not yet been informed.

Boesch had become an internet sensation at the Games after posting a video of himself hanging onto the outside rail of an escalator as it climbed upward.

"Everyone else is safe. We did everything we could. We took them away from the rest of the team and now they have to recover,” the spokesperson told Reuters.

The Games have been hit by an outbreak of the virus that causes vomiting and diarrhoea but until Friday the athletic delegations had been unaffected.

More than 200 people have been confirmed to have contracted the norovirus, most of them security staff and Games personnel.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said earlier on Friday the two skiers were not staying at the athletes village with the majority of the other competitors in South Korea.

It said at a news conference they were "unwell" but hoped they would still be able to compete at the Games.

The freestyle competition started on Feb. 9 and runs until Feb. 23.

Austria's Schairer to return home after breaking neck

Austrian snowboarder Markus Schairer is to return home for medical treatment after breaking a bone in his neck during a fall in the men's snowboard cross event at the Winter Olympics.

The 30-year-old Schairer fell heavily on his back in Thursday's quarter-finals, with his head snapping back and striking the snow. He remained on the ground for a few moments before getting to his feet and finishing his ride down the hill.

France's Pierre Vaultier, who was in Schairer's quarter-final, went on to win the gold ahead of Australia's Jarryd Hughes and Spain's Regino Hernandez.

The Austrian Olympic Committee (AOC) said in a statement that Schairer had been taken to hospital where tests showed he had fractured the fifth cervical vertebrae in his neck.

The AOC added that there was no "neurological impairment and consequential damage can be ruled out".

Schairer will return to Austria with medical assistance.

Source: REUTERS
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