Winter Olympics: Andrew Musgrave says missing athletes 'isn't good for the rest of us'
- Published
Andrew Musgrave is set to compete at his fourth Olympics
24th Winter Olympic Games |
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Hosts: Beijing, China Dates: 4-20 February |
Coverage: Watch live on BBC TV, BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button and online; listen on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds; live text and highlights on BBC Sport website and mobile app |
The Olympics are the pinnacle of sport, but for Andrew Musgrave it doesn't quite feel that way this time around.
Britain's leading cross-country skier will line up for his first event on Sunday - the 30km skiathlon - but the reigning Olympic champion, Simen Hegstad Kruger of Norway, will be absent, yet to arrive in Beijing after testing positive for Covid-19.
Kruger is one of many athletes to have their Games impacted by the virus, with the Norway camp hit particularly bad by positive tests and close contact cases.
Musgrave, who is based in Norway, told BBC Sport: "The fact that Simen isn't getting to race because he's stuck in Italy in quarantine is super gutting for him, because he would have been one of the biggest favourites tomorrow.
"It's not good for the rest of us either. The Olympics should be the pinnacle of sport with all the best athletes there, and at the moment it doesn't really feel like all the best athletes are here.
"The Norwegians have been super unlucky. One of their main hopes in the Nordic combined (Jarl Magnus Riiber) has tested positive since they got here, and we were actually on the bus with him the day before he tested positive, so that really does bring it home."
On Saturday 45 cases of Covid within the Olympic closed-loop system were reported, including 25 among athletes and team officials.
Since 23 January there have been 136 cases among athletes and team officials.
"We have been ridiculously strict with hygiene. None of us on the team were eating in the same room, we were all isolating in our own rooms and we were only seeing each other at training outdoors," said 31-year-old Musgrave.
"Once we got to Beijing, when you're in the bubble, you felt a bit safer and started to relax, but after we were on that bus we realised that you're not 100% protected here either. You do have to be super cautious."
'I'm as good as I should be'
Beijing is Musgrave's fourth Olympics, his best result a seventh-place finish in the skiathlon four years ago in Pyeongchang.
Last year saw him tore his pectoral muscle before a bout of shingles in November threatened to derail his Olympic ambitions, but he feels he is entering the Games exactly where he should be.
"With shingles, I didn't feel at the time that it set me back, but looking back at it, I had a massive drop off in form after that and the whole first part of the season before Christmas was a bit of a write off," he said.
"But I almost see that as a bit of an advantage because, instead of being in good form and having to maintain it, I've got this increase in form and I feel like I've been getting stronger and stronger as the weeks go by, so it should hopefully make it easier to peak for the Games. I definitely feel like I'm as good as I should be."
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Much has been made of the artificial snow used in Beijing, and Sunday's race in Zhangjiakou - where temperatures have dropped to as low as -22C - will be no different.
"I'm coping with it quite well," Musgrave said. "I feel like I'm the sort of person who tackles adverse conditions quite well. If you grew up in Scotland and you're used to going out skiing in the pouring rain and howling gales, then this isn't so bad.
"It's worse for the Scandinavians. They're used to constant -5 and sunny skies.
"The snow is very slow here, but that is because it is so dry and cold, not because it is artificial. All the races this championships are going to be long, hard slogs and it's going to be a war of attrition."
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