Just days after it was announced that the first case of the coronavirus in Europe was discovered in France as early as December, athletes said that when they returned from the competition held in the city of Wuhan Basin, the focus of the coronavirus outbreak, some of them felt symptoms corresponding to the coronavirus.

Athletes from militaries around the world competed in the Military World Games in Wuhan from October 18-27.

Several members of the French delegation which competed in the games said that during their stay in Wuhan they developed symptoms similar to severe flu, including fever and severe cough.

Elodie Clouvel, a world champion modern pentathlete, was asked at the end of March whether she was afraid to attend the 2020 Olympic Games in Japan. She told Loire 7: "No because I think that with my husband Valentin [Belaud] we have already had the coronavirus."

"We were in Wuhan for the World Military Games at the end of October. And afterwards, we all fell ill. Valentin missed three days of training. Me, I was sick too," she added. "I had things I had never had before. We weren't particularly worried because no one was talking about it yet."

She added: "A lot of athletes at the World Military Games were very ill. We were recently in touch with a military doctor who told us: "I think you had it because a lot of people from this delegation were ill."

According to French news channel BFMTV French athletes returned to France with symptoms that included fever, severe cough and acute muscle pain. None of them were tested for the coronavirus, since the coronavirus cases were reported in China only 20 days after the delegation returned from Wuhan.

Members of other European delegations also reported flu-like symptoms including fever upon returning from the games, including the Swedish delegation, French media reported.