During the 2020 Summer Olympics — which, you may recall, actually took place in the summer of 2021 — plenty of athletic achievements made headlines, but so did organizers’ efforts to keep Olympians safe from COVID-19. By the time of this year’s Winter Olympics, the days of a quarantine bubble are long in the past — but some athletes are opting to err on the side of caution.
Writing at NPR, Nathaniel Herz reported on the efforts of numerous athletes to minimize their risk of contracting COVID-19 or other communicable diseases. (Remember, it’s also flu season.) Other issues have also come up — including a team-wide case of stomach flu that necessitated the delay of a women’s hockey game between Finland and Canada.
Efforts to stay safe can take many forms. NPR describes some U.S. cross-country skiiers masking up when in public, and other athletes from a number of countries opting to find their own lodging so that they can remain largely isolated from the possiblity of catching something.
Meet the VO2 Max Kings of the Winter Olympics
Nordic skiing turns lungs into super engines — these athletes can out-breathe anyone on EarthIf these measures seem overly cautious to you, consider that plenty of elite athletes rely on their lungs to a degree that most of us do not. There’s a reason why the likes of skiier Johannes Høsflot Klaebo are especially careful to avoid infection: issues with their lungs can be the difference between being a medalist and not. (Klaebo recently took home a gold medal in the skiathlon, for the record.)
Yes, there are some athletes who have competed with COVID — Noah Lyles comes to mind. But when you’re competing at the highest levels of any sport, milliseconds can sometimes separate a medalist from an also-ran. And if you’re someone who has worked for years to get to this point, why would you risk not being at your physical peak?
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