US Swimming Team Faces Controversy Over Unvaccinated Athlete Participation

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Tae-min] AP News reported on the 23rd (local time) that there is controversy over a U.S. swimming team athlete who did not receive the COVID-19 vaccine participating in the Tokyo Olympics.

Michael Andrew, a leading medal contender in U.S. swimming, revealed on the 8th in a media interview that “I do not want to inject a substance into my body whose reactions I do not know a month before the Olympics,” disclosing that he had not been vaccinated. He also mentioned the daily COVID-19 tests conducted during the Olympics, saying, "Knowing that we are minimizing the risk of infection as much as possible makes me feel very safe."

Andrew is the only athlete on the U.S. swimming team to publicly disclose that he is unvaccinated. According to a U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) official, about 100 of the 613 U.S. athletes who went to Tokyo have not yet been vaccinated.

Maya DiRado, a former U.S. Olympic swimming gold medalist, criticized on the 21st, "As a former U.S. national team athlete, I am disappointed that Michael Andrew is attending the Olympics unvaccinated against COVID-19 and the reasons he gave." She criticized that participating unvaccinated poses a risk to teammates.

Meanwhile, Rio gold medalists within the team such as Caleb Dressel (400m medley relay, relay), Lilly King (100m breaststroke, 400m medley relay), Katie Ledecky (800m relay, 200m, 400m, 800m freestyle), and Simone Manuel (100m freestyle, 400m medley relay) have all completed vaccination.

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