1:28
- ABC News
- February 8, 2016
Zika Outbreak: USOC Will Not Stop Brazil-Bound Athletes
The Zika virus has been a concern in the region for months.
Sandusky also said that a report earlier today the USOC has advised U.S. athletes to reconsider competing in Rio due to the Zika virus \"are 100 percent inaccurate.\"
\"Team USA looks forward to the games, and we did not, would not and will not prevent athletes from competing for their country should they qualify. The inaccurate report cited an internal discussion with U.S. sports leaders pertaining to employees and the potential risks that the CDC has identified with travel to Zika-infected areas,\" Sandusky said in a statement.
Some athletes have expressed concern about the virus. George Boville, an Olympic bronze medalist swimmer for Trinidad and Tobago in the 200 meter individual medley and two-time world champion, told ABC News last week that he was worried about going to Brazil, where the outbreak of the Zika virus in the Americas started.
\"It is definitely a concern,\" he told ABC News via Twitter. By the time of the Olympic games, \"it should be rampant.\"
The Australian Olympic Committee has also said it is advising all athletes to wear long sleeves and that any team member who is \"pregnant at the time of the Games need to consider the risks very carefully before deciding whether to proceed with travel to Brazil.\"
American wrestler Adeline Grey told reporters at a test event on Jan. 31 at Rio's Olympic Park that she didn't plan to skip the games, but that if she were pregnant she would reconsider participating.
\"If I was planning to have a child next month, I would be extremely uneasy about this,\" Gray said, according to the Associated Press. \"Maybe that would have changed my decision\" to come to Rio for the test event.
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