{"id":40026,"date":"2021-03-01T19:28:57","date_gmt":"2021-03-01T20:28:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=40026"},"modified":"2021-03-01T21:04:06","modified_gmt":"2021-03-01T21:04:06","slug":"star-would-rather-miss-olympics-than-take-vaccine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=40026","title":{"rendered":"Star would rather miss Olympics than take vaccine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Olympic<\/a> champion sprinter Yohan Blake of Jamaica said he would rather miss the Tokyo Games than get the COVID-19 vaccine, although getting vaccinated will not be required of the athletes competing there this summer.<\/p>\n

"My mind still stays strong, I don't want any vaccine, I'd rather miss the Olympics than take the vaccine, I am not taking it," he was quoted as saying in Jamaican newspaper The Gleaner.<\/p>\n

"I don't really want to get into it now, but I have my reasons."<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Blake, a one-time rival of Jamaican great Usain Bolt, will likely still be able to participate in what is expected to be the 31-year-old's third and final Games even if he does not get the vaccine.<\/p>\n

The International Olympic Committee has said getting the vaccine is "encouraged" but not compulsory for athletes.<\/p>\n

"Follow your mind, don't follow the crowd," the two-time Olympic gold medalist said in a video posted to Twitter on Saturday.<\/p>\n

"At the same time, be respectful to each and every one. Don't let no one take away your choice."<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/YohanBlake\/status\/1365820420822364163?s=20<\/a><\/p>\n

The Jamaican government is expected to receive its first shipment of the vaccine next week, The Gleaner reported.<\/p>\n

Blake's remarks came after a series of eight meets were held across the Caribbean island nation on Saturday, marking a return to large-scale sporting events that had been on hold due to the pandemic.<\/p>\n

The Olympics, which were pushed back by a year due to the global health crisis, are set to begin on July 23 though speculation remains the event might yet be canceled due to the ongoing pandemic.<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/em>*This story originally appeared on CNN and was reproduced with permission<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Olympic champion sprinter Yohan Blake of Jamaica said he would rather miss the Tokyo Games than get the COVID-19 vaccine, although getting vaccinated will not […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40026"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40026"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40026\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40028,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40026\/revisions\/40028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}