Before she can soak up the good news, Tokyo 2020-bound sprinter Kristina Knott will have to battle COVID-19 first as confirmed by Philippine athletics chief Philip Ella Juico.

According to head coach Rohsaan Griffin, Knott is asymptomatic and returned with a positive result, which denied her a participation slot in the 2021 Karlstad Grand Prix and an upcoming meet in Finland.

Hurdles king Eric Cray was also affected by Knott’s result as they were in close contact with each other.

He would need to serve a quarantine period before heading to Gothenburg, Sweden for his last chance to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics via direct qualification.

Knott and Griffin, who are currently in Karlstad, Sweden, plan to fly back to the US, where they will continue their preparations for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Knott will be flying to Tokyo from Austin, Texas, where an International Olympic Committee (IOC) accredited testing center is located, on July 18.

The 2019 Southeast Asian Games double gold medalist in the women’s 200 meter run and 4 x 100m mixed relay qualified for the Tokyo Games through universality places in the women’s 200m event.

She also holds the Philippine record of 23.01 seconds after smashing the SEA Games record twice in one day in the country’s staging of the regional biennial meet in 2019.

Knott is the 15th Filipino Olympian in the country’s Tokyo 2020 delegation that will see action in the biggest global sports showpiece on July 23 to August 8. – Rappler.com