Police are investigating claims that 18-year-old British player Gabriella Taylor, who abandoned her quarterfinal match against American player Kayla Day last month after becoming ill, was given food or drink contaminated with a potentially deadly bacteria, the Guardian reports.
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The rising tennis star had already defeated Switzerland’s Rebeka Masarova, the number two seed and reigning junior French Open champion, in the girls’ singles competition and was playing Kayla Day of the U.S. in the quarter-finals when she was forced to retire midway through the match.
“If you were wanting to poison someone, this would be an extremely roundabout way of going about it”, Mabey said.
Neither had previously come across leptospira bacteria being used to intentionally poison someone. Authorities are considering different possibilities, including that she was poisoned by an opponent or by an organized crime betting syndicate, The Telegraph said.
It usually causes mild flu-like symptoms, but in some cases can lead to organ failure and internal bleeding.
Leptospirosis is an infectious bacterial disease in animals serving as vectors.
Many different kinds of animals can carry the bacteria, but it is most commonly associated with mrats and mice, farm animals, such as pigs, cattle, horses and sheep, and dogs.
“No high street bookmakers opened a book on junior Wimbledon and it would be incredibly hard to do because of limited knowledge of the market”.
Scotland Yard confirmed that police are investigating the poisoning allegation, which was made to authorities on August 5.
The spokesman said that the victim, Gabriella, was taken ill on 6th July.
“When the infection team explained what it was we could not believe it”.
“It is unknown where or when the poison was ingested”.
Several scientists expressed doubt that 18-year-old Taylor could have been infected deliberately.
“There have been no arrests and enquiries continue”.
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Scotland Yard said police in the London Borough of Merton, which covers Wimbledon, were investigating an allegation of poisoning.
