Poppy Starr Olsen's Olympic dreams remain on track despite a coronavirus scare through the Australian skateboard team in the United States.
News broke over the weekend that two Australian skateboarders were "devastated" after positive COVID-19 tests left their hopes of qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics in tatters. A coach had also contracted coronavirus.
Olsen was among the group of Australian skateboarders who flew to the US on May 3 for an Olympic qualifying event in Iowa.
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The Newcastle 20-year-old had already done enough to qualify for Tokyo but others were banking on competition points from the Dew Tour to secure a spot at the Games.
Some of the Australian skaters, including the Novocastrian, were unable to compete in the Dew Tour and forced to self-isolate.
Olsen was ranked fourth in the world for female park riders and the best-placed Australian before heading to the US and told the Newcastle Herald before leaving that she was keen to use the Iowa event for some much-needed competition practice. It had been over 12 months without an international event due to the coronavirus world pandemic.
"Myself [and] another member, Keegan Palmer, we were the only two people who were really officially locked in to go to the Olympics, so even though it's devastating that we haven't been able to skate in this competition we were pretty much locked in," Olsen told ABC Radio.
"Everyone else, this was pretty much their last shot to get in, so it's pretty devastating for those girls."
Australian 13-year-old Charlotte Heath confirmed her diagnosis on social media, posting on Instagram: "Pretty bummed about not being able to compete."
Heath and the yet-to-be-named teammate will not be able to secure enough points to be part of Australia's Olympic contingent, which can include a maximum of six male and six female skaters.
"We knew what it was going to be like coming over here and we knew the risks, but it actually happening and having a couple of positive cases is really surreal and everyone is a bit devastated just because we didn't even get a chance to compete either," Olsen said.
Olsen, who along with some other teammates received her first COVID-19 vaccine dose prior to departing, has tested negative throughout the trip and was hoping to get her second vaccine dose when they return to San Diego from Iowa. The Australian skaters who qualify for the Tokyo Games will be based in San Diego until the Olympics.
"I'd be the same amount of nervous coming over here, having two vaccines, because it's still a very scary place and heavily populated with COVID too," Olsen said.
"We all knew the challenges and wanted to come and compete in this competition anyway, especially the people who really needed this competition as their last event to get points.
"Everyone is being pretty precautious and are doing the right things. Everyone's trying to be very safe. A couple of us are worried but we're doing alright."
Skateboarding is set to make its Olympics debut in Japan between July 25 and August 5 and is one of four new sports.
