Daily Times

TOKYO: Two judo silver medallists from Georgia were stripped of their Tokyo 2020 accreditation for breaking coronavirus rules by leaving the Olympic Village, an official from their National Olympic Committee said Saturday.It is the first case since the Games began of athletes being punished for breaking strict anti-infection rules, which forbid team members from leaving their accommodation except to train and compete.VazhaMargvelashvili, 27 and LashaShavdatuashvili, 29, ventured out of the compound to meet “one of their good acquaintances” who lives in Japan, said the Georgian NOC official, who declined to be named.”When they went outside of the village, no one stopped them at the exit. So they thought that they could go outside,” the official said.”They wanted just to have a bit of open air, to relax after a tough day of competition, after a tough lockdown period.”Both athletes had been beaten to the gold medals by different Japanese judoka this week.The Georgian NOC official said the pair had their accreditation revoked on Friday, but that they have now left Japan to return home.Tokyo 2020 organisers said earlier Saturday they had taken disciplinary action on Friday against at least one Olympics participant, without revealing how many people were involved or their identity.