Even as the world moves past the worst of the pandemic, COVID‑19 continues to haunt the Olympics.  Remember the 2022 Beijing Olympics, when 32 athletes had to isolate after testing positive? Their dreams were shattered. Now, just four days before the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, the same threat is haunting teams once again.

Australia, which is sending its second-largest Winter Olympic team in history with 53 athletes competing in skiing, snowboarding, figure skating, skeleton, and bobsled, is facing a major setback.

Recent reports revealed that two members of the Australian support staff tested positive for COVID‑19 while the team was training at the Australian Institute of Sport’s European Training Centre (ETC) in Gavirate, northern Italy, about an hour from Milan.

Both staff members were showing symptoms and tested positive on January 28 and January 31. Fortunately, neither of them is competing in Milano Cortina, though Covid measures were enacted.

The chef de mission, Alisa Camplin, reassured everyone, saying, “The Australian Winter Olympic team has medical protocols in place for any infectious disease or illness and are standard operating procedures for high-performance environments which are being followed.”

And immediately, everyone who had been in close contact with the two staff members was tested. But they all came back negative.

But for safety purposes, they were still given antiviral treatments. Officials even changed arrival plans for the rest of the team, sending some athletes along different routes so they wouldn’t mix unnecessarily.

So, for now, no athletes are affected. But it shows that COVID‑19 remains a concern, even at the Milano Cortina Olympics. And it leaves you asking how other large teams, such as Team USA are taking measures for it.

Team USA’s largest-ever Milano Cortina squad stays vigilant after Tokyo 2020 COVID setbacks

The US is taking its largest team ever to the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics – 232 athletes with representation in various winter sports. That makes the American team more tense and under pressure than ever.

So far, no reports have come about U.S. athletes testing positive for COVID‑19, but Team USA is still following standard public health and safety practices guided by official health authorities.

After all, nobody wants a repeat of Tokyo 2020 or Beijing 2022, when COVID ended the Olympic dreams of several American athletes.

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Remember Coco Gauff? Then 17‑years‑old, she was set to compete in both singles and doubles for Team USA, but she tested positive for COVID‑19 before the Games began. She had to withdraw, saying it had “always been a dream of mine to represent USA at the Olympics” and expressing her disappointment at missing the chance.

Then there was the U.S. pole vaulter and world champion Sam Kendricks, who tested positive in the Games and was ruled out because of this. The United States Olympic Committee posted, “Sam is an incredible and accomplished member of Team USA and his presence will be missed. Out of respect for his privacy we cannot provide more information at this time.”

And at the 2022 Olympics, US figure skater Vincent Zhou was devastated after a positive Covid test prevented him from competing in the men’s event, shattering his lifelong dream.

Even now, despite bigger teams and more preparations, COVID-19 is still a very real possibility, and Team USA is doing everything possible to protect its athletes and to make certain that its Milano Cortina Olympic dreams are not cut short before they can even start.