Never mind the threat of Zika, Jamaican sprinter Kemal Bailey-Cole is taking on Usain Bolt tonight while still suffering from the virus.
24-year-old Bailey-Cole won a gold medal as part of the Jamaican 4x100m relay team in the London Olympics and tonight takes part in the Jamaican Olympic trials.
Also lining up in the hunt for places on the much-heralded 100m sprint squad are Bolt, Yohan Blake and Asafa Powell.
Speaking to Jamaican newspaper The Gleaner, Bailey-Cole said:
I am just praying that I get the strength to carry me through the rounds. Recovering is not easy because as we speak, the rashes are
still on my body. My eyes hurt, but the best thing is that I am not feeling any muscle pain at the moment.I didn't know I had it (the Zika virus) until I went to get a haircut. After cleaning up, my girlfriend realised a bump was on my neck,
which was a lymph node. But long story short, I didn't know I had the virus and I have been training with it for like three days
now.I was experiencing back pains and muscle soreness, but I thought it was just soreness from the exercises I was doing. It is very disappointing but as
I said earlier, I was training with it and didn't know, so I still got in some work but not how I wanted it. (I am) just going to trials with the mindset
that I am healthy and ready.
Shane Lowry, Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy have already rejected the chance to represent Ireland at the Rio Olympics because
of their fears about the virus but Bailey-Cole seems to have none of their worries.
Katie Taylor already had her say on the golfers' decision.
Another one bites the dust. I wonder what excuse the golfers would of made if there was no virus. https://t.co/z5GUgQVEc2
— Katie Taylor (@KatieTaylor) June 28, 2016
However, the Irish triumvirate are not the only golfers who are set to avoid the Olympics - Jason Day, Brandon Grace and Adam Scott have also
pulled out and Jordan Speith is reported to be considering his position.
Perhaps the central question should be why golf is even a part of the Olympics given its top players don't seem to have any heed on
taking part in the competition.
Ricky Fowler perhaps said it best when he was asked about taking part in Rio. "It would be a dream come true that I haven't ever dreamed of," he said.
Golfers want to win green jackets and major tournaments - the Olympics hold little interest for them. The last time golf was in the Olympics - back in 1908 -
the event was won by George Seymour Lyon - a 50-year-old Canadian who had only taken up the game ten years previously. Lyon was one of only three non-Americans in
the field (only two nations - the US and Canada took part) and most of the game's top players did not take part either.
What's that saying about history repeating itself?
