South African 400 metres world record holder Wayde van Niekerk has tested positive for Coronavirus while training at his European residence in Gemona in Italy.
This means he will have to quarantine and therefore will miss an athletics meeting in Trieste today, Saturday
The 28-year-old was supposed to race the 100m and 400m events in what was his first competition outside of South Africa since 2017.
Van Niekerk ran the fastest time in the 400 metres history, 43.03 seconds, to win the Olympic final at Rio 2016.
He broke the previous time of 43.18 seconds set by American Michael Johnson at the 1999 World Championships in Seville in Spain.
Van Niekerk is the most high-profile athlete to contract the virus to date and this is a blow to the 28-year-old who is returning from major injury.
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