Keegan Messing has finally been cleared to fly to the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.
The Canadian figure skating champion had to miss last week’s Team Canada charter flight Canada from Vancouver to Beijing after testing positive for Covid.
That left him needing to give four negative tests – two each 24 hours apart – before boarding a commercial flight to Tokyo or Singapore with a connection to the Chinese capital.
The last of those came through on Friday (4 February), hours after the start of the team event where Roman Sadovsky skated in his place.
Now Messing has to get to Beijing in time for the men’s short program on Tuesday at 09:15 Beijing time (17:15 PST on Monday).
With travel time, connections and time differences, it is by no means a given that he will arrive on time.
As Skate Canada high performance director Mike Slipchuk told The Globe and Mail, “The biggest challenge once those steps are done is trying to get on a plane to get here. It’s not easy to get here.”
Messing, who has shown no symptoms, was isolating in a hotel near Vancouver Airport before leaving quarantine. Since then, he has been working out and practising on the ice with Slipchuk sending him training videos.
After competing in the team event, pairs skater Kirsten Moore-Towers told reporters she had been in contact with Messing every day.
She said, “Just recently he sent me a video of his son Wyatt standing up, so he’s in good spirits. I think the best person to deal with this kind of crisis is Keegan Messing.
“We know he’s training hard now that he’s out of quarantine. He’s relishing any opportunity that he gets to come here. We miss him.”
Born in Alaska to a Canadian mother, Messing switched allegiance from the United States to Canada in 2014.
He was 12th in the men’s singles at PyeongChang 2018 and took second place in Skate Canada that year, his best finish in an ISU Grand Prix event.
The following year, he competed at Skate America while mourning the loss of his brother in a motorcycle accident and paid an emotional tribute to him in the gala exhibition.
After six previous attempts, Messing finally won his first Canadian national title last month to secure his spot in Beijing.
Now he just needs a flight to get him there on time.