Australians Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt will be able to compete in the curling mixed doubles tournament later on Sunday under the Beijing Games' close contact arrangements, only a few hours after being told their debut Olympic campaign would end early.
Gill returned a series of positive COVID-19 tests late on Saturday and had been placed in isolation ahead of her planned return to Australia but were cleared by a medical expert panel, the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) said in a statement.
Gill, 22, had previously contracted the virus prior to the Olympics and tested positive on arrival in Beijing but was subsequently cleared to compete with Hewitt after she produced two negative tests.
The pair, who became the first curlers from Australia to compete at the Games, have lost all seven of their round-robin matches so far but will continue their hunt for a landmark victory against Switzerland and Canada later.
Gill and Hewitt were coached by Canada's John Morris, the reigning Olympic champion, en route to making Games history and moved to Camrose, Alberta last year to train under the 43-year-old due to the lack of a dedicated curling facility back home.
"It's unbelievable what he's done for us to get here," Hewitt said on Saturday. "We get along really well with him. He's a friend first and coach second... He prepared us in the best possible way leading up to it and we're very thankful for that.
"We've had a long history with our families," added Hewitt, whose father Steve was coached by Morris' dad Earle and represented the Australian curling team at the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville when the sport was a demonstration event.
Morris, teaming up with Rachel Homan, takes on Czech Republic before facing his proteges in the late session on Sunday.
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