After receiving a devastating morning telephone call that she had tested positive for COVID-19, Tahli Gill and her Australian mixed doubles curling teammate Dean Hewitt were yesterday out of the Beijing Olympics.
A few hours later, another call. They were back in.
They barely had enough time to grab their uniforms out of their packed bags — a flight home had been booked for today — jump in a cab and get from the Olympic Village to the Ice Cube for a game against Switzerland.
Photo: Reuters
Highlighting a day they would never forget, Gill threw the takeout shot that resulted in a three-ender, or three points, that tied the game at six in the sixth end. The Aussies won 9-6 for their first victory after opening their first Olympics with seven straight losses.
They fist-bumped Swiss curlers Martin Rios and Jenny Perret, hugged each other and then waved to a spectator who occasionally had yelled: “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie” in the mostly empty arena.
“You know what? They just experienced the COVID Olympics 101 right there,” said the Aussie duo’s coach, defending mixed doubles gold medalist John Morris of Canada. “I’m sure it was a really tough time for Tahli. I was heartbroken for her when I heard they were out. I’m absolutely ecstatic they’re still playing in this.”
Coincidentally, the Aussies’ final game of the round robin was later against Morris and his new partner, Rachel Homan.
The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) announced late yesterday morning that Gill returned a series of positive tests the night before and that rather than having her go into an isolation hotel, she and Hewitt would be heading home.
The AOC continued to press her case, and shortly before the scheduled game time, it announced that the medical expert panel examined Gill’s cycle threshold values — considered an indicator of how much virus an infected person is carrying — following polymerase chain reaction testing during the previous 24 hours and determined that they fell into an acceptable range. With that, the Aussies were back in.
Gill had COVID-19 before the Olympics and had been allowed to compete under the close contact program, at least until the positive tests late on Saturday.
“It’s just been the craziest time,” Gill said. “It was down to the wire, pretty much. The medical team, they were able to review it. I’m so grateful that they put forward a good case. It just shows I’m not infectious.”
After getting cleared to play, it was such a scramble digging through her luggage, ripping out clothes to get to her uniform, that Gill grabbed the wrong glove.
“It was really crazy, but I think the fact that we were able to regroup, refocus and pull it off is really cool, and definitely something we’re going to take as a learning development going forward,” she said. “It’s just been the most amazing experience.”
Gill and Hewitt were the first Australian curlers to qualify for the Olympics.
“You don’t realize what you’ve got until it’s gone,” Hewitt said. “Once we heard that we actually could play again, it made it extra special for us. Embrace the Olympics, embrace what we had and be grateful for it because it’s something that can be taken away from you at a moment’s notice. We’re so stoked and we can’t wait for our next game as well.”
Taiwan’s men’s table tennis team won bronze on Saturday at this year’s International Table Tennis Federation World Team Table Tennis Championships in London, matching the country’s best-ever finish at the regular tournament. Consisting of Lin Yun-ju, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7, Feng Yi-hsin, Kuo Guan-hong, Hong Jing-kai and Hsu Hsien-chia, the team won bronze after losing 0-3 to Japan in the semifinals. In the opening match, 24-year-old Lin played the first game against world No. 3 Tomokazu Harimoto 11-5, but ultimately lost the next three closely contested games 9-11, 10-12 and 10-12. Feng then faced world No. 8 Sora Matsushima in
Lin Yun-ju on Thursday handed Taiwan two key victories as they advanced to the semi-finals of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London. The Taiwan men’s table tennis team beat Sweden 3-2 in five singles matches. The 24-year-old Lin, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7 and nicknamed the “Silent Assassin,” opened the tie by defeating world No. 2 Truls Moregard 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 13-11) before clinching the deciding fifth match with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5) win over Anton Kallberg to hand his team the overall victory. Kuo Guan-hong put Taiwan up 2-0 with a 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 8-11,
Taiwanese fire dancer Yang Li-wei advanced to the final of Britain’s Got Talent this weekend after receiving a Golden Buzzer during her live semi-final performance. Yang, a member of Taiwan’s Coming True Fire Group, awed judges and audiences with a high-intensity fire performance featuring flaming umbrellas, fire swallowing and spinning metal structures balanced with her legs. Judge Simon Cowell praised Yang as a star, while guest judge KSI reacted with amazement before pressing the Golden Buzzer, sending her to the finals. The dance group wrote on social media that the Golden Buzzer was “the highest honor” on the talent show, adding: “Twenty-three years
As Super Rugby fast approaches its playoff season it finds itself racing toward a reckoning with many issues that threaten the southern hemisphere tournament. A group of stakeholders met in the New Zealand city of Christchurch late last month to address problems that are making the future of the 31-year-old competition increasingly tenuous. The discussion was made more urgent by the decision by the owners of Moana Pasifika to fold the Auckland-based club for financial reasons. That followed the closure of the Melbourne Rebels at the end of the 2024 season, likewise because of financial difficulties. Problems addressed included player retention as more
RSS