TOKYO, May 10, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - Japanese authorities have pledged to
investigate a mix-up that saw high school athletes given hand sanitiser to
drink during a race, with one student falling ill after taking a swig.

   Competition organisers for a girls' 5,000-metre walking race held last
weekend in central Japan's Yamanashi prefecture mistakenly poured the
sanitiser into cups and placed them at a drinks station for athletes.

   Yamanashi's high school sport federation said the sanitiser had been
stored in an unlabelled plastic bottle alongside those containing drinking
water in a cardboard box.

   Alcohol-based hand sanitiser is commonly used to protect against Covid-19
and has become ubiquitous in Japan and other countries since the pandemic
began.

   One athlete collapsed, vomited and dropped out of the race after drinking
the sanitiser, while two others spat it out and continued.

   In all, three athletes were taken to hospital for treatment and were
reported to be recovering.

   Yamanashi governor Kotaro Nagasaki said Monday that there would be a
third-party investigation.

   "On behalf of the prefecture, I would like to offer a sincere apology to
the athlete and her family," he said.