Olympic swimmer Michael Andrew defends going maskless and refusing COVID vaccine
Thomas McDonald
|
Michael Andrew, 22, defended his decision not to wear a face mask behind the scenes at the Tokyo Olympics and for refusing to get the vaccine before the games.
“For me, it’s pretty hard to breathe in after kind of sacrificing my body in the water, so I feel like my health is a little more tied to being able to breathe than protecting what’s coming out of my mouth,” Andrew said when asked about his decision not to wear a mask.
RELATED: Sports commentators slammed for misgendering ‘non-binary’ Olympic skateboarder competing on women’s team
Most athletes wear a face mask while being interviewed by the media. The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee requires media and workers to wear a face mask at all times. However, the USOPC said Andrew did not violate protocol, because athletes are allowed to remove their masks during interviews in the “mixed zone” where media interviews take place.
“Michael has been reminded of the Games policy and established COVID mitigation protocols, and has acknowledged the importance of following all guidelines intended to keep athletes and the community safe,” the USOOC said in a statement.
RELATED: U.S. women’s soccer team trolled for losing amidst ‘woke’ display
Andrew finished fifth in the 200-meter individual medley. He returns Friday night to swim in the 50m free preliminaries.
“I think it’s great that there’s procedures but at the end of the day, all of us here have been under quarantine and in the same testing protocol, so there’s a level of safety that’s comfortable when we’re racing,” he said.
Andrew made headlines for his refusal to get the COVID-19 vaccination before the games.
“My reason behind it is, for one, it was kind of a last moment, I didn’t want to put anything in my body that I didn’t know how I would potentially react to,” Andrew said earlier this month.
RELATED: U.S. women’s soccer team loses match after kneeling during Olympic opener
“As an athlete on the elite level, everything we do is very calculated and understood. For me, in the training cycle, especially leading up to trials, I didn’t want to risk any days out. There were periods where you take a vaccine, you have to deal with some days off,” he continued. He has no plan to get vaccinated in the future he added.