I feel terrible, and it's terrible for my partner Wesley too
In the shadow of an Olympic flame lit under extraordinary circumstances, the Tokyo Games continued their uneasy coexistence with the pandemic, as two more athletes tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday — among them Dutch tennis player Jean-Julien Rojer, who gave voice to the quiet anguish of those who followed every precaution and still fell ill. Since July 1st, 160 confirmed cases have accumulated across athletes, staff, and personnel, a steady drumbeat reminding the world that human ambition and viral reality are not so easily separated by protocol alone.
- Dutch tennis player Jean-Julien Rojer publicly confirmed his diagnosis, expressing deep frustration at having taken every precaution and still contracting the virus — his partner Wesley Koolhof was also left without a doubles companion.
- Seven new infections were recorded on a single Monday, spreading across the Olympic Village, organizing committee staff, and personnel in the surrounding municipalities of Chiba and Saitama.
- The cumulative case count reached 160 — 155 logged by organizers and 5 reported separately by local governments — with the burden falling almost equally on Japanese residents and foreign participants.
- Each new positive test translated directly into disrupted competitions, withdrawn athletes, and delegations forced into crisis management while the Games pressed forward regardless.
The Tokyo Olympics organizing committee confirmed two more COVID-19 cases among competing athletes on Tuesday, a disclosure that had grown grimly routine by late July. One of the infected was Dutch tennis player Jean-Julien Rojer, whose own national delegation had already announced his diagnosis before the official bulletin was released.
Rojer did not hide his distress. He had taken precautions before and after arriving in Tokyo, yet the virus reached him anyway. His words — that he felt terrible, and that the situation was equally painful for his doubles partner Wesley — carried the particular helplessness of someone who had done everything right and still lost.
The two athlete cases were part of a broader Monday wave of seven new infections, four of them among people staying in the Olympic Village. The remaining three involved an organizing committee staff member and two individuals connected to Games operations in Chiba and Saitama.
Since July 1st, the organizing committee had confirmed 155 cases, with five additional infections reported separately by local governments, bringing the true total to 160. The breakdown was nearly symmetrical: 81 Japanese residents and 79 foreign nationals, a quiet testament to how thoroughly the virus had embedded itself in both the host population and the international contingent gathered in the city.
The daily case count had become the Games' unwanted rhythm — a parallel scoreboard measuring not athletic achievement but the pandemic's persistent claim on an event built to celebrate human unity and excellence.
The Tokyo Olympics organizing committee announced two more positive COVID-19 tests among competing athletes on Tuesday, a routine disclosure that had become grimly familiar by late July. The names were withheld in the official bulletin, but one of the infected athletes was Dutch tennis player Jean-Julien Rojer, who had once partnered with Brazilian Marcelo Melo in doubles competition. The Netherlands delegation had already released its own statement about Rojer's diagnosis before the committee's update went public.
Rojer's frustration was palpable in his response. He had taken precautions before arriving in Tokyo and continued to do so once there, yet the virus found him anyway. "I feel terrible," he said, "and it's terrible for my partner Wesley too." The helplessness in those words—the sense of having done everything right and still fallen ill—captured something of what the Games had become by that point in the summer.
The two athlete cases were part of a larger wave. Seven new infections were confirmed across Monday, according to Japan Standard Time. Four of those cases involved people staying in the Olympic Village itself. The other three included an organizing committee staff member and two other people working in connection with the Games, both identified in the municipalities of Chiba and Saitama.
The cumulative toll was mounting steadily. Since July 1st, the Tokyo organizing committee had logged 155 confirmed cases. That figure did not include five additional cases reported separately by local governments in areas hosting Olympic training facilities, bringing the true total to 160. The split was nearly even: 81 Japanese residents and 79 foreign nationals, a reminder that the virus was circulating among both the host country's population and the international contingent that had descended on the city.
These numbers had become the rhythm of the Games—a daily accounting of infection, a measure of how thoroughly the pandemic had woven itself into the fabric of an event designed to celebrate human achievement and international unity. Each new case represented not just a positive test but a disrupted competition, a withdrawn athlete, a delegation managing crisis. The Olympics were proceeding, but they were proceeding under siege.
Citações Notáveis
I did everything I could, both before and while being here, to avoid infection. I have no idea how it happened. I feel terrible, and for my partner Wesley it's terrible too.— Jean-Julien Rojer, Dutch tennis player
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does a single athlete's case matter when you're talking about 160 total infections?
Because Rojer's name and his words make it real. He's not a statistic—he's someone who followed the rules and got sick anyway. That's the story underneath the numbers.
Did the organizing committee seem concerned about the spread, or was this just routine reporting?
The tone was clinical, almost detached. They released the numbers in a bulletin. But the fact that they kept releasing these bulletins every day suggests the problem wasn't going away.
Four cases in the Olympic Village—that's the housing for thousands of athletes. Were people worried about that?
You'd think so. But the Games kept going. The organizing committee was managing the crisis by reporting it, not by stopping anything.
What strikes you most about this moment in the Games?
That by late July, a positive test among an athlete was almost expected. The novelty had worn off. This was just how the Olympics were happening now—with a running count of the infected.
Do you think Rojer's quote changes how people understood the situation?
It humanizes it. Numbers are abstract. A man saying he feels terrible because he got sick despite his best efforts—that lands differently. It shows the Games weren't insulated from the pandemic, no matter how much the organizers wanted them to be.