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Is Zika going to spoil the Olympics?

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    Is Zika going to spoil the Olympics?

    Marc Leishmann becomes the latest golfer to announce he will not go to Rio, citing fears about contracting the Zika virus (and passing it on to his wife). I know the golfers are probably not viewing the Olympics as seriously as competitors in most other sports, for whom it is the pinnacle, but is this going to start going to become an issue?

    #2
    Is Zika going to spoil the Olympics?

    Some potential competitors from very rich countries who do not see the competition as the dream of a lifetime will choose not to go. Very few people will miss them.

    I wonder when Leishmann is going to stop playing in Florida and Texas.

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      #3
      Is Zika going to spoil the Olympics?

      The Zika infection causes no or only mild symptoms similar to a mild form of dengue fever. It is treated by rest.

      If he experiences no symptoms and he is worried about transmission to his wife, he could consider using a condom for the recommended period of eight weeks after his return in order to minimise risk.

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        #4
        Is Zika going to spoil the Olympics?

        Vijay Singh has now joined Leishman.

        I have a feeling that this is going to be a very golf-heavy list.

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          #5
          Is Zika going to spoil the Olympics?

          US cyclist Teejay van Garderen is the latest to withdraw.

          Earliest this week, the first Zika-related case of microcephaly in the US was recorded in New Jersey (virus apparently contracted in Brazil).

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            #6
            Is Zika going to spoil the Olympics?

            The link between the Zika virus and microcephaly is grossly overstated, this panic is groundless. The press coverage has been irresponsible at best.

            To put things in perspective, there are approximately 25,000 cases of birth with microcephaly in the US, and almost none of these are related to the Zika virus.

            Some in the alternative media have speculated that most microcephaly cases in Brazil are related to environmental pollution, Brazil being the world's largest user of pesticides, with some of the most lax regulations (many of those pesticides being banned in first world countries). Other factors like malnutrition and substance abuse during pregnancy might also factor in.

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              #7
              Is Zika going to spoil the Olympics?

              This is where the stupidity of putting golf and tennis in the Olympics starts to bite.

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                #8
                Is Zika going to spoil the Olympics?

                They have golf in the Olympics?

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                  #9
                  Is Zika going to spoil the Olympics?

                  Starting this cycle

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                    #10
                    Is Zika going to spoil the Olympics?

                    Stupid load of old nonsense.

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                      #11
                      Is Zika going to spoil the Olympics?

                      McIlroy withdraws today.

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                        #12
                        Is Zika going to spoil the Olympics?

                        Will this lead to golf getting removed from the olympics? Not as a punishment but just the politics of it?

                        Is golf confirmed for 2020?

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                          #13
                          Is Zika going to spoil the Olympics?

                          Yes, it is, and the Japanese certainly have courses they can use.

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                            #14
                            Is Zika going to spoil the Olympics?

                            Japanese golf will benefit from the "bounce" the Olympics will give it - it's been on a bit of a slump for a decade now, with their top events dwindling in number, rarely attracting foreign stars like they used to, and the domestic players not really making the international impact they once did. In the 1980s, Japan regularly boasted 2 or 3 players in the top ten at any given time, now they have one in the top 50.

                            I expect more and more withdrawals from the top players this year, though. Zika is, I suspect, a convenient cover story for "I don't want to travel halfway round the world to play in the tropics in an event with postmen from Bolivia that no-one's really going to pay much attention to. And stay in the athlete's village? Seriously? The FedEx Cup starts the following week, that's worth about $13m."

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                              #15
                              Is Zika going to spoil the Olympics?

                              If it's only golfers we're talking about not bothering to participate, then I think we can safely say that zika will not spoil the olympics.

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                                #16
                                Is Zika going to spoil the Olympics?

                                Golf will be in in 2020, as will rugby (sevens), as Japan is a solid regional rugby power, and 7s has a good regional presence.

                                They'll need to drop one sport to accomodate for the new disciplines, that might be taekwondo, which is vulnerable for cultural reasons.

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                                  #17
                                  Is Zika going to spoil the Olympics?

                                  japan loves shitting on korea?

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                                    #18
                                    Is Zika going to spoil the Olympics?

                                    Spieth withdraws, after Dustin Johnson did last week.

                                    This has clearly become something virtually exclusive to fabulously wealthy Western golfers who can make more money elsewhere.

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                                      #19
                                      Is Zika going to spoil the Olympics?

                                      Hahaha
                                      Golftwat Rory has just been on local TV claiming he only got into golf to enrich his own ass and doesn't have any particular desire to help grow the game. Reckons he'll probably only watch the track & field events 'the events that matter'.
                                      Oh well. He'll still be watching more of it than I will. Mercifully I'll be abroad for a large chunk of it.

                                      At least I think that's what he said.
                                      Hard to tell with his evolving mid-Atlantic accent.

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                                        #20
                                        Is Zika going to spoil the Olympics?

                                        Calvert wrote: Hahaha
                                        Golftwat Rory has just been on local TV claiming he only got into golf to enrich his own ass and doesn't have any particular desire to help grow the game. Reckons he'll probably only watch the track & field events 'the events that matter'.
                                        Oh well. He'll still be watching more of it than I will. Mercifully I'll be abroad for a large chunk of it.

                                        At least I think that's what he said.
                                        Hard to tell with his evolving mid-Atlantic accent.
                                        Putting golf in the olympics isn't going to help it. Is there any evidence that having tennis in the Olympics has helped it?

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                                          #21
                                          Is Zika going to spoil the Olympics?

                                          I don't think it has.

                                          I can see the Olympics potentially raising the profile of women's golf, and it is notable that no women golfers have withdrawn; it's purely a fabulously wealthy guy thing.

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                                            #22
                                            Is Zika going to spoil the Olympics?

                                            In a way it's admirable he's admitted he can't be arsed with the Olympics because he can be off making money elsewhere and doesn't really care about expanding the sport. Maybe he should've just said that earlier instead of using some spurious excuse about a virus not exclusive to golf courses in Brazil.

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                                              #23
                                              Is Zika going to spoil the Olympics?

                                              Raonic shows that Golf isn't the only sport that shouldn't have been added to the Olympics.

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                                                #24
                                                Is Zika going to spoil the Olympics?

                                                Odd to just pick him out, when Simona Halep has made the same decision at basically the same time and more explicitly cited Zika.

                                                The Olympic gold matters in Tennis. Not as much as a Slam, but it is something that players build their schedule around, rather than squeezing it in if it's convenient. It's not the pinnacle of the sport and can't ever hope to be, but it is taken seriously which (men's) Golf is clearly failing to do. For example, Rafa Nadal bothered fighting an appeal that he wasn't eligible to get the opportunity to play. Does that reasonable regard make it worth a place?

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                                                  #25
                                                  Is Zika going to spoil the Olympics?

                                                  Blame the Guardian Sport page. I just saw the headline "Raonic to miss Olympics because of Zika".

                                                  But no sport where the Olympics isn't the pinnacle should be in it - there are plenty of sports missing out that it would be the case for.

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