A Ugandan weightlifter has been found four days after he disappeared from an Olympic training camp in Japan leaving a note saying he wanted to find work, police have said.
The disappearance of Julius Ssekitoleko came at a time of high public concern over COVID-19 risks as thousands of foreigners arrive for the Games.
“Today, the man was found in Mie prefecture with no injuries and no involvement in any crime,” an Osaka police official, who declined to be named, told AFP news agency on Tuesday.
“He carried his own ID and identified himself. It is not certain to whom we should send the man – the team or the embassy.”
The alarm was raised on Friday after Ssekitoleko failed to show up for a coronavirus test and was not in his hotel room.
The 20-year-old had recently found out he would not be able to compete at the Tokyo Games, which open on Friday, because of a quota system.
A note was found in his room requesting his belongings be sent to his family in Uganda, according to officials in Izumisano city in Osaka prefecture, where the team were training.
Police said Ssekitoleko had travelled to Nagoya in central Japan and then to nearby Gifu prefecture, before moving south to Mie. He was found 170km (105 miles) east of his host town.
