Tokyo Olympics: Testing positive for COVID in boxing final will land opponent gold medal

The highly-anticipated Tokyo Olympics will take place with strict safety protocols in place along with some special rules of conduct owing to the COVID pandemic. The Tokyo Olympics' Sport-Specific Regulations (SSR) has made it clear as to how the final of a sport will be held in case a participant tests positive for COVID-19. According to the SSR, in case of a participant in the finals of the boxing event gets infected, the opponent will be awarded the Olympic gold medal. Testing positive for Tokyo Olympics boxing final will land silver The specification put out by the SSR stated that any participant testing positive for COVID in the Olympics' boxing final will be awarded the silver medal. The regulations have been jointly formed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Federations (IFs). The specifications have been set up to ensure the smooth functioning of the event amid the pandemic. As per the regulations, "In Boxing, the athlete that cannot compete will not be disqualified and will be marked as DNS in case they cannot start the event and will be treated as Walk-Over once the competition has started. If an athlete is no longer able to compete the opponent will receive a bye and progress to the next round. If an athlete cannot compete in the final due to COVID-19 the bout will not go ahead and the athlete who can no longer compete will receive the silver medal and the opponent will be awarded the gold medal to protect the safety of the athletes.” Losing semi-finalist to replace COVID bound participant in wrestling finals Meanwhile, an incident of a participant testing positive for COVID in the wrestling finals will have a different outcome. If a participant tests positive, the finalist will then be replaced with the losing semi-finalist. The regulations for wrestling said, "In Wrestling if an athlete is not able to compete due to COVID-19, the athlete will not be disqualified and will be marked as DNS. The opponent receives a bye into the next round. In case the athlete has reached the final and is no longer able to compete due to COVID-19 the athlete eliminated in the respective semi-final will fill the vacant place and compete in the final.” The regulations also clarified regarding the prospective outcomes of a participant missing out on the shooting event due to COVID-19. "In shooting, if an athlete/team is not able to compete due to COVID-19, they will not be disqualified and will be marked as DNS. There will be no change to the competition format or groupings. The events take place over one day with the exception of the shotgun events; however, all athletes compete on both days and therefore the results of the daily COVID-19 test will determine if an athlete can start otherwise the event will go ahead with one athlete less.” It further added, “For the mixed team event, in case an athlete can no longer take part in the event, but the NOC has another athlete on-site, the NOC can replace an athlete team member." The Tokyo Olympics will go on from July 23-August 8 and is set to happen under strict COVID safety protocols. The mega quadrennial event, which was slated to happen last year, was postponed due to the ongoing pandemic. IMAGE: AP/ UNSPLASH

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Tokyo Olympics: Testing positive for COVID in boxing final will land opponent gold medal

The International Olympic Committee approved regulations says that a participant turning COVID positive before the boxing final will hand them a silver medal.

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