Australian athletes celebrate at Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games closing ceremony
Australia's athletes celebrate during the closing ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on August 8
JEWEL SAMAD/AFP via Getty Images
  • The Australian Olympic Committee is fighting to reduce the quarantine duration of 16 athletes.
  • 16 out of the country's 472 Olympians have to quarantine for 14 days in Sydney and another 14 days when they reach their home state of South Australia.
  • The committee said the 28-day quarantine poses "a significant risk" to the physical and mental wellbeing of the athletes.
  • Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Australian Olympic Committee said it is "cruel and uncaring" for 16 South Australian athletes to have to quarantine for four weeks after their return from the Tokyo 2020 Games.

The 16 are part of the total 472-strong Australian team sent to this year's Games.

"While other countries are celebrating the return of their athletes, we are subjecting ours to the most cruel and uncaring treatment. They are being punished for proudly representing their country with distinction at the Olympic Games," said the committee's CEO, Matt Carroll, in the statement.

The 16 Olympians, who are all fully vaccinated, have to go through a longer quarantine because they're flying through Sydney on their way home to the state of South Australia. New South Wales, where Sydney is located, is currently fighting a COVID-19 outbreak driven by the delta variant, with 343 new cases reported on Tuesday.

The South Australian government requires that the athletes quarantine for another 14 days when they reach South Australia after finishing their standard 14-day quarantine in Sydney.

The rest of the 56 Olympians from South Australia returned home via other Australian cities, and therefore aren't subject to a quarantine repeat, said the Olympic Committee's Wednesday statement.

David Hughes, chief medical officer of the Australian Institute of Sports, added in the statement that having to quarantine for 28 days poses "a significant risk to the physical and mental wellbeing of the individuals concerned."

"To have individuals quarantined for such a lengthy period of time is, in my opinion, unreasonable and cannot be scientifically justified," he said. When asked by Insider to elaborate on Hughes' statement, a committee spokesperson said Hughes had "referred to multiple studies regarding the mental health of Olympic athletes post-competition" and that the committee also consulted a psychologist on the subject.

A spokesperson for South Australia's health department told Insider that the Olympic Committee was made aware of the extended quarantine on July 30.

"Anyone traveling from New South Wales must undertake 14 days quarantine upon entry into South Australia," the spokesperson said.

The committee said that it tried to avoid sending athletes through Sydney, but the task proved "logistically impossible" because of cap restrictions.

It applied for an exemption to the quarantine rule for its athletes on August 5, but South Australia's chief public health officer declined four days later, citing the risk to the state's community if the extended quarantine is not upheld, according to a letter provided by the health department to Insider.

As of Thursday, two of the 16 athletes have left Sydney quarantine for South Australia, with the rest returning to South Australia over the next 10 days, the Australian Olympic Committee told Insider.

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