Olympic hockey coach with Alaska ties tests positive for COVID-19 in China

One hockey coach with ties to Alaska is experiencing the greatest fear of athletes and team staff members heading to the Winter Olympics — he tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival in China and has been in a quarantine facility ever since.

For Steve Thompson, the goaltending coach for Team USA’s women’s ice hockey team, quarantine has meant six days of isolation as he awaits the two negative test results required for his release from a cramped room and less-than-appealing meals. But Thompson’s Alaska roots have prepared him for the experience.

“I lived in a tent for a month in September on a moose hunt, so I figured if I can live in a tent, I can survive in a run-down hotel room,” Thompson said by phone from China.

Thompson is one of 76 athletes and team officials from around the world who have tested positive for the virus after arriving in China between Jan. 23 and Feb. 1, out of 4,193 athletes and team officials who arrived at the Beijing airport, according to a report by Chinese officials.

The required quarantine in designated hotels is part of China’s “Zero COVID” policy that employs daily testing and strict policies to keep the coronavirus at bay.

[Through a COVID haze, Alaska’s Olympic contingent pursues medals in Beijing]

Thompson worked for two seasons as the University of Alaska Anchorage’s goaltending coach after skating four seasons with the University of Alaska Fairbanks hockey team. He now lives in Denver, near where the national hockey team is headquartered. But he says he still returns to Alaska every summer and fall to fish and hunt.

Thompson described getting tested for COVID-19 at the airport after landing in China and receiving an email the next morning informing him of the positive result. Any hope for a false positive dissipated when another test confirmed the result. Thompson was quickly whisked away in a 45-minute ambulance ride to the quarantine site, where he described a predictable routine of testing and meal delivery.

“I kind of feel like a dog. I know exactly when I’m getting my meals. I’m only going to get one cup of kibble, and then I’m going to wait for the knock on my door for the next kibble treat,” he said. “It’s a good weight-loss program.”

The food has been so disappointing that he requested — and received — a delivery of freeze-dried backpacking meals from the U.S. Olympic Committee staff who regularly check in on him. An attempt to get a stationary bike delivered to the room was thwarted, but on Wednesday, Thompson was finally allowed out of his room to visit the local “fitness center” — a small room with a single stationary bike.

The view from his window provides another reminder that Thompson isn’t hanging out at a normal hotel.

“I see nothing but hazmat suits running around right now,” he said.

He’s the only member of the hockey team and its staff who has tested positive for the virus. He traces back the possible contagion to his decision to work out at a hotel gym while the team was undergoing pre-flight COVID-19 testing in Los Angeles.

“That’s the only place I can think of that I did something different than all of my peers,” he said. “I’m kind of kicking myself. I probably should have just told myself it’s all right to not work out for a few days and wait to get to China.”

[COVID tests, isolation hotels and a burner phone: An ADN reporter’s trip to Beijing]

Thompson said it’s a relief that none of the team members tested positive, allowing them to move ahead as planned to their first game against Finland on Thursday. The team gave up a planned break in January and many of the athletes didn’t go home for Christmas because they were afraid of contracting COVID-19 from a family member. Since October, they had remained in Minneapolis, where they lived in a hotel across the street from the rink where they trained.

For athletes, the required quarantine period could lead to potentially missing out on their Olympic experience or having to face their competitors after several days spent in a cramped quarantine hotel. But Thompson is still filling his coaching role by watching videos of daily practices and providing feedback to goalies. Team athletes even printed a picture of his face that they held up during the official picture-taking so Thompson wouldn’t miss out.

He plans to watch the team’s first game on his phone and catch up with the goalies the next day.

“I’m just going to try and act as normal as possible,” he said, “just doing it a little bit more remote.”