While some athletes are still trying to make it to the Rio Games, there are others already considering throwing in the towel. Another Olympian says he’s very seriously thinking about skipping the Olympics because of Zika.
Chicago Bulls center and two-time silver medalist Pau Gasol told reporters on Monday the virus may be a much bigger threat than we think.
"It wouldn’t surprise me to see some athletes deciding not to participate in the Games to avoid putting their health and the health of their families at risk," Gasol told The Associated Press, and also wrote in Spanish newspaper, El Pais: "These Olympic Games, the first to be held in South America, could be unforgettable. The risk is that this could be for all the wrong reasons."
First-time Olympic sailor Helena Scutt, 23, says starting a family isn’t quite yet on her radar. So the Stanford says her Olympic dreams are worth the risk.
"We’re not really thinking about (Zika), and we’re able to focus on our training," Scutt said. She and her partner Paris Henken, 20, will be competing in new Olympic sport, women’s 49erFX sailing.
It’s a similar story for Colton Brown, 24. The San Jose State graduate recently qualified for the Rio Games in judo.
"In the future, yes, I do want to have children. And yeah, it’s a little concerning," Brown said.
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During this Olympics, however, he is more concerned with picking up a medal than picking up the virus.
"It might just be because I don’t know much about it – and I think I’m going to keep it that way," Brown said.
But for doctors treating babies born with Zika-related brain defects, ignorance isn’t bliss.
In an open letter, 150 health experts asked the World Health Organization to delay the Olympics or move the Games out of Rio, where Zika infections continue to rise.
"What degree of public health crisis would we need to have to put public health above the realization of a three-week sporting event?" Christopher Gaffney, co-author of the letter and professor at the University of Zurich, told NBC News. "This is one of the main questions that we are trying to drive at: is that the Olympics is being put ahead of a potential vectorization of a global health crisis."
But the WHO says keeping half a million people out of Rio won’t make a dent in stopping the spread of Zika, which is already present in 60 countries.
"WHO's response to the concern about the timing of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro is that based on a very careful risk assessment and all the information we have gathered so far about this disease, these Games should go ahead as planned and we should continue to work to make sure they are as safe as possible," WHO’s Dr. Bruce Aylward said to NBC News.
There has been at least one global sporting event to be moved from its host city, according to NBC News. In 2003, the women’s World Cup moved from China to the United States because of SARS concerns.
The Olympics have yet to be relocated because of medical concerns.
