Fighting for fresh air, begging for better food and yoga lessons via video to pass the time: The Olympic isolation ward in Tokyo is becoming a difficult endurance test for corona-infected athletes.

"It's psychologically totally exhausting, certainly more than many people can endure," said the Dutch skateboarder Candy Jacobs in a video message from the quarantine hotel after she claimed to have fought for a quarter of an hour at an open window for the first time in seven days had.

"Inhuman" is that.

Cyclist Simon Geschke, who was the first German Olympian to test positive for the virus, also criticized the conditions in the accommodation assigned to him in several interviews.

He was also not allowed to open a window, had hardly any exercise and on the first few days as a vegan could only eat rice with soy sauce, he said.

Then he received a nutrition package from the German Olympic Sports Confederation as well as a bike and a roller for his room.

“It's a bit like a hamster wheel, but it feels great,” Geschke tweeted gratefully on Wednesday.

"Unacceptable"

DOSB President Alfons Hörmann showed compassion and promised further efforts to free gifts from quarantine as soon as possible. The head of the umbrella association also told the German Press Agency about the basic measures taken by the Japanese authorities: "As the person in charge and head of delegation, I say: It is good and right and important that we act consistently." "Unreserved approval" of the DOSB. "Even if you say as a person: Damn it, it's very annoying," added Hörmann.

The Dutch, however, struck a different note.

"Unacceptable" are the circumstances in the hotel quarantine for the athletes, said the technical director of the Oranje delegation, Maurits Hendriks.

In addition to the food, which was more geared towards Japanese needs, the top official complained about the small size of the rooms, in which no window could be opened, and the lack of daylight.

Insufficiently prepared

Hendriks complained that the associations had not been adequately prepared for these conditions in advance, despite comprehensive manuals on the corona measures. The athletes can leave the quarantine on the eighth day at the earliest and after two negative PCR tests. "We never received any information about quarantine logs that we requested," he said. Hendriks announced a complaint to the International Olympic Committee. There was initially no comment from the Japanese Olympic organizers.

The IOC pledged support.

Work is being carried out to ensure that the "processes are improved," said Kirsty Coventry, head of the IOC's athletes' commission, on Thursday.

You are in contact with the athletes concerned, their complaints are addressed.

However, the IOC official also pointed out that the quarantine hotels were facilities of the Japanese government.

Richard Budgett, the IOC's medical director, showed his sympathy for the athletes concerned.

Landing in the quarantine hotel is "really hard".

But the regulations said that athletes who tested positive would be isolated.

"There's no getting around it," said Budgett, but added, "Everything is being done to support them." Still, the isolation means great stress.

The American beach volleyball player Taylor Crabb recently reported on his quarantine life in the Olympic city.

He had to spend 23 hours a day in his room, he was only allowed to go down to the ground floor for a while to fetch food.

The 29-year-old from Hawaii said the best distractions for him are the yoga classes with his mother on Facetime video.

"This trip is the wildest I've ever been on, and I hope I never have to go through something like this again," said Candy Jacobs from the Netherlands.

She described her stubborn minutes at the open window with the words: "These first breaths of fresh air were the saddest and most beautiful moment of my life."