Tokyo Olympics: US swimmer Michael Andrew's refusal to get vaccinated causes controversy

US swimmer Michael Andrew's hesitancy to get vaccinated against COVID-19 ahead of Tokyo Olympics 2021 had courted huge controversy after the 22-year-old became the only US swimmer to publicly announce that he was unvaccinated against the Coronavirus in January.

A record holder in the 100-meter breaststroke, Michael Andrew is being seen as a US Gold medal favorite for Olympics 2021. He is scheduled to make his debut in the summer games and compete in the 100-meter breaststroke, the 200-meter individual medley, and the 50-meter freestyle.

However, his analysis on the side-effects of the COVID-19 vaccine and how his immunity had been built up after he contracted the virus in 2020 only added to the unvaccinated athlete's sensational announcement.

Several sections of the US media have dubbed the swimmer as an 'anti-vaxxer' after he said that he 'didn’t want to put anything in his body' that it could adversely react to. 

Speaking to USA TODAY Sports Michael Andrew in a pre-Olympics video said, “My reason behind it is, for one, it was kind of last moment (and) I didn’t want to put anything in my body that I didn’t know how I would potentially react to. As an athlete on the elite level, everything you do is very calculated and understood."

“For me, in the training cycle, especially leading up to (the U.S. Olympic trials) I didn’t want to risk any days out. There were periods where you take a vaccine (and) you have to deal with some days off," he added.

Unvaccinated athlete in US swim team raises fear

While Tokyo 2021 does not make vaccination mandatory, Andrew's strong stance against the COVID-19 vaccine has become a cause of concern for the US national team and the risk it might pose to other athletes. Around 90% of the US team is vaccinated. According to Lindsay Mintenko, managing director of the US national team, Olympic COVID and contact tracing rules were “taking into consideration vaccination status.”

Meanwhile, Team USA coach Dave Durden has defended Andrew's stance saying that he wanted all US athletes to 'feel safe and feel good.' "It is a team thing that we’re really supporting each other on and Michael is no different in that regard," he said.

So far, the total number of COVID-19 cases detected in the Olympic Village stand at 91. The Olympics Games are being held from July 23 to August 8.