Swiss skiers contract norovirus

Pyeongchang: Two Swiss freestyle skiers have contracted the norovirus, the Swiss team said on Friday, becoming the first confirmed cases among athletes at the Pyeongchang Winter Games. 

A Swiss team spokesperson said one of athletes was Fabian Boesch but not want to name the other as the athlete's relatives had not yet been informed.

Boesch had become an internet sensation at the Games after posting a video of himself hanging onto the outside rail of an escalator as it climbed upward. 

"Everyone else is safe. We did everything we could. We took them away from the rest of the team and now they have to recover,” the spokesperson told Reuters.  The Games have been hit by an outbreak of the virus that causes vomiting and diarrhoea but until Friday the athletic delegations had been unaffected.

More than 200 people have been confirmed to have contracted the norovirus, most of them security staff and Games personnel.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said earlier on Friday the two skiers were not staying at the athletes village with the majority of the other competitors in South Korea. It said at a news conference they were "unwell" but hoped they would still be able to compete at the Games.

The freestyle competition runs until February 23.