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Judo medallists stripped of Olympic passes over Tokyo sightseeing trip
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Silver medallist Georgia's Vazha Margvelashvili celebrates during the medal ceremony for the judo men's -66kg contest during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo on July 25, 2021. (AFP/Jack Guez)
T
wo 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.
Vazha Margvelashvili, 27 and Lasha Shavdatuashvili, 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 told AFP.
"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.
"Since the accreditation has been revoked, (they) can no longer have access to Tokyo 2020 facilities," organising committee spokesman Masa Takaya told reporters.
"It is impermissible that a person goes out from the Olympic Village for sightseeing," he added.
Margvelashvili had faced off against Hifumi Abe on Sunday, while Shavdatuashvili lost to Shohei Ono on Monday.
Athletes are tested daily while in Japan, where they are living in biosecure 'bubble' conditions and must leave the country 48 hours after they have finished competing.
Japan is battling record numbers of infections during the postponed 2020 Games and extended a virus state of emergency on Friday.
