Mountain bike rider Anton Cooper has tested positive for Covid-19 at the Commonwealth Games and has withdrawn from competition.
Anton Cooper Photo: ROSS BELL
The double Commonwealth Games medallist is symptomatic and is in hotel isolation just outside the Athletes' Village in Birmingham.
Cooper tested negative on arrival at the village and began to isolate prior to testing positive.
No other team members are symptomatic and close contacts have returned multiple negative tests for Covid-19.
New Zealand chef de mission Nigel Avery said Cooper was disappointed to be missing the Games.
"He is really gutted with all that work he's put in - it was a really, really tough decision for him," Avery said.
"But I think the decision he made in conjunction with our medical team to withdraw from the competition was the right thing.
"The world's really uncertain about what impact Covid has on people, and I think that was a pretty smart move, given that he has got other things this year to manage."
The world mountainbike championships begin on August 24 in Les Gets, south-eastern France.
Cooper won a gold medal at the Glasgow Games and a silver on the Gold Coast four years ago.
