World Champion Kapas Among Nine Hungarian Swimmers Infected With the CCP Virus

Reuters
By Reuters
April 1, 2020Sports News
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World Champion Kapas Among Nine Hungarian Swimmers Infected With the CCP Virus
Swimming - 18th FINA World Swimming Championships - Women's 200m Butterfly Final - Nambu University Municipal Aquatics Center, Gwangju, South Korea - July 25, 2019. Boglarka Kapas of Hungary celebrates winning the race. (Stefan Wermuth/File Photo/Reuters)

Butterfly world champion Boglarka Kapas is among nine swimmers on the Hungarian national team to have tested positive for the CCP virus, the country’s swimming association said in a statement late on Tuesday.

Dominik Kozma, who won a bronze in the 4x100m freestyle relay at the 2017 worlds, has also tested positive for the fast-spreading virus that has brought global sport to a virtual standstill and led to the one-year postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

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Hungary’s Dominik Kozma reacts after competing in the men’s 200m freestyle semi-final during the swimming competition at the 2017 FINA World Championships in Budapest, on July 24, 2017. (Photo by Attila Kisbenedek/AFP via Getty Images)

“We tested everyone on the national swim team roster, as well as the staff working with the team, trainers, masseurs,” the Hungarian Swimming Association said in a statement.

“Results keep coming in and as of Tuesday night nine were positive.”

Olympic hopefuls had been attending training camps in warm climates over the past few months. The association said everyone was quarantined upon their return to Hungary and did not take part in any joint training sessions.

“I feel fine,” the 26-year-old Kapas, who won the 200m butterfly world title in 2019, said in a video posted on Instagram.

“This does not change my routine, as I have been at home anyway, going out for some fresh air to my garden at most… Even if you feel fine you should be extra careful and stay home if you can in case you carry the virus.”

NTD Photo
(L-R) Silver medallist USA’s Hali Flickinger, gold medallist Hungary’s Boglarka Kapas and bronze medallist USA’s Katie Drabot celebrate during the medals ceremony after the final of the women’s 200m butterfly event during the swimming competition at the 2019 World Championships at Nambu University Municipal Aquatics Center in Gwangju, South Korea, on July 25, 2019. (Photo by Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images)

Kozma said his second test was positive after a negative first test.

“I took it with mixed feelings,” he told state television. “I’m not saying I’m not scared of this. I worry about my wife.”

So far 525 people have tested positive for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus in Hungary, while 20 people have died.

By Marton Dunai

NTD staff contributed to this article.

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