Negotiating the challenge of managing arrivals to the Games was never going to be easy or smooth.

The past week has demonstrated the challenge facing organisers and athletes, with a series of positive cases either jeopardising or ending hopes of competing at the Games.

The pandemic has been a lottery and it has been reflected at the Games, with athletes like Hungarian skater Shaoang Liu able to recover from COVID-19 in time to travel, compete and win a bronze medal falling on the side of fortune.

But for every winner there have been losers, with Austrian Ski Jumping World Cup leader Marita Kramer forced to watch the women’s normal hill event from home after testing positive at the wrong time.

"We have a lot of sympathy for all the people who are affected and in isolation, or direct contact persons" IOC President Thomas Bach said at the pre-Games press conference three days ago.

"In the worst case, getting a positive result, destroying your Olympic dream, at least jeopardising it. This is mentally extremely challenging.

"You’re working for four years for this and then all of a sudden, you are here, and it all collapses."

In the defence of the IOC and Beijing 2022, positive cases were always going to be an inevitability.

As difficult as it will be for the athletes, those who are genuinely infectious at least have certainty regarding the status of their particularl cases.

The challenge organisers appear to be failing with so far is handling where there is uncertainty. Organisers face an unenvious task of ensuring an athlete does not pose a risk to other Games participants, while attempting to find a solution which will allow them to compete. Nobody denies this is a difficult task.

The stories of athletes so far suggests this is an area Beijing 2022 is falling short on.

The past 24 hours has seen two apparently cases - one ending with a positive outcome and one with a negative one - where the athlete concerned has been put through the mill.

Australia's Tahli Gill was permitted to compete days ago in the mixed doubles curling event, having been no longer deemed a risk after her infection weeks before the Games. After completing seven matches, successive positive tests led to her being isolated and a flight home booked, only for the Chinese Public Health System to issue a late reprieve after deeming her cycle threshold values to be in an "acceptable range."

It is to Gill and Dean Hewitt’s credit that they were able to refocus and claim their first wins of the competition, despite the situation.

"Initially this morning I wasn’t able to play, even though I wasn’t infectious," said Gill. "As you can imagine it was quite stressful and disappointing, but I am so grateful the medical team supported me, they reviewed it and this just confirms I am not infectious.

"I am so incredibly grateful we were able to get out there and finish [the] Olympic campaign.

"Even more so that we were able to pull off a win. It has been a whirlwind of emotions."

Polish short track speed skater Natalia Maliszewska outlined her experience of the COVID-19 protocols, after eventually being denied the chance to compete in the women's 500 metres event, which began yesterday.

Maliszewska, a World Championship medallist in 2018, wrote on social media that a series of tests had produced differing results. She eventually was cleared to leave isolation late the night before her competition, before later seeing her hopes dashed by organisers.

"Positive tests, negative, tests close to leaving the isolation, then positive tests with values through which I should actually be in the hospital on a respirator," she wrote. "Later good results again with the chance that I may be allowed out of isolation. Then again a complete disaster.

"Without prospect, my hope has died. In the end, people get me out of my room at 3 a.m. on the day of the start.

"This night was a horror, I slept in my clothes in my bed because I was afraid that at any moment someone would take me back to isolation. I looked carefully out of the window with one eye because I was afraid someone would see me.

"Huge hope later, I Can pack I'm going to the ice track I'm going to start! I pack my clothes, I put on my suit, and then…. A message that unfortunately they were mistaken, that I am a threat and should not have been released from isolation. I have to get back to the Olympic Village as soon as possible.

"I can't understand this anymore. I no longer believe in any tests, any Olympics.

"To me this is a big joke, I hope whoever is managing this has a lot of fun. My heart and my mind can't take this anymore."

Maliszewska has since been released, tweeting "I'm back" this evening.

The comments from Maliszewska suggest there has been an alarming lack of understanding from organisers over the impact the uncertainty and ultimate disappointment of being unable to compete will have. At the very least, Beijing 2022 could be accused of failing to communicate the process effectively to provide reassurance.

Even had Maliszewska been able to compete yesterday, you have to suspect the handling of her case would have had a detrimental impact on her performance.

It is concerning that the two recent cases come just days after outcry over the conditions experienced by Belgian skeleton athlete Kim Meylemans, who had initially been taken to a quarantine facility rather than the Athletes' Village, which she had initially believed would be her destination

Organisers thankfully acted after criticism, but faced further complaints over the conditions experienced by German Nordic combined athletes Eric Frenzel and Terence Weber and figure skater Nolan Seegert.

The German Olympic Sports Confederation has reported that conditions have improved for the athletes after criticism, but the perception seems to be that Beijing 2022 has been reactive rather than proactive. After all, the German luge team raised concerns over isolation conditions and protocols last year during a Games test event.

The IOC has said it has offered a hotline to provide support to athletes impacted, while Bach urged organisers to ensure they are not waiting for athletes to be calling for help before assistance is provided.

Christophe Dubi, Olympic Games executive director for the IOC, admitted the conditions were "not good enough" but insisted "a lot of improvements" have since been made.

"It is a duty and responsibility that we have to make sure that the expectations are met," said Dubi. "Every time there is an issue we have a very good network that allows us to rely the information and address the situation as swiftly as we can. A lot of improvements have been made.

"Let's be very thorough in the future to make sure that internet conditions, food and size of the rooms, equipment for training and everything is perfect for the athletes who do suffer from the conditions."

As with every Olympics, it seems likely that teething problems will be ironed out as the Games progress.

However it will be too late for some of the athletes who have found themselves impacted in the past week or so.