Wayde van Niekerk did not race in his scheduled international comeback meet in Italy on Saturday after coronavirus concerns.
Van Niekerk, the Olympic 400m champion and world-record holder returning from leg injuries, reportedly tested positive for the virus on Thursday, then had a negative test on Friday but was still held out of the meet. He was on the start list but was a DNS (did not start) on the results page.
Van Niekerk’s agent confirmed Friday that a member of the sprinter’s group, which arrived in Italy from South Africa earlier in July and had been quarantining, tested positive for the virus.