Canadian figure skater Keegan Messing awaiting negative COVID-19 tests

BEIJING –

Keegan Messing’s Olympic Games are in jeopardy.

The 30-year-old isn’t with Canada’s figure skating team at the Beijing Olympics, as he waits to clear COVID-19 testing to travel.

Messing, who captured his first national title last month, was scheduled to compete in the team event which begins with short programs on Friday.

“(Messing) is currently still in Canada and awaiting the necessary negative COVID-19 test results for travel to Beijing,” the Canadian Olympic Committee said in a statement to The Canadian Press. “We are hopeful he will be able to travel soon. We will provide an update in the coming days.”

Canada’s other men’s singles entry Roman Sadovksy would fill in for Messing in the team event, in which Canada is the reigning Olympic champion. The men’s long program for the team event is Sunday, and teams are permitted to make substitutions between the short and long programs.

The men’s singles event begins Tuesday with the short program.

Messing clinched his second Olympic berth for Canada at the national championships last month in Ottawa, but with weather issues and flight cancellations, it took a marathon 33 hours and three flights to get from Anchorage to Canada’s capital.

The native of Girdwood, AK., competes for Canada because his mom was born in Edmonton. He planned to fly home to Alaska in between the national championships and Olympics.

The COVID-19 virus has cast a cloud over the Beijing Olympics, as athletes self-isolated and crossed their fingers they wouldn’t test positive.

The mantra among Canadian athletes has been: “Think positive. Test negative.”

The Canadian Olympic Committee announced on Tuesday that three members of Canada’s 414-member delegation of athletes, coaches and staff were in COVID-19 isolation.

At the Canadian Figure Skating Championships, men’s singles skater Stephen Gogolev, who won silver at the 2019 nationals when he was just 14, was forced to withdraw after testing positive upon arrival. And Nam Nguyen, the 2019 Canadian champion, was struggling barely a week after contracting COVID-19. He finished sixth.

Messing made his Olympic debut four years ago in Pyeongchang, where he finished 12th. He was sixth at the world championships last spring in Stockholm, and also won bronze at Skate America last season.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 1, 2022.