Pau Gasol: Olympics Zika Scares Chicago Bull, Others Rio Bound

Pau Gasol may skip the Summer Olympic Games in Brazil over the Zika virus, adding his name to a growing list of athletes who have expressed concern over the mosquito-borne disease, reported USA Today.

Gasol plays center for the NBA's Chicago Bulls and is a two-time silver medalist winner with his brother Marc on Spain's Olympic men's basketball team. Marc Gasol plays for the Memphis Grizzlies.

"Are we taking the precautions that will guarantee the health and safety of fans, athletes and other professionals who will travel to Rio, or are we putting financial concerns above the health of millions of people around the world?" Pau Gasol wrote in the Spanish newspaper El Pais.

"These Olympic Games, the first to be held in South America, could be unforgettable. The risk is that this could be for all the wrong reasons." 

Gasol told reporters on Monday in Madrid that he has talked to other athletes who were contemplating skipping the games, said The Guardian.

"It wouldn't surprise me to see some athletes deciding not to participate in the games to avoid putting their health and the health of their families at risk," Gasol said. "I'm thinking about (whether to go). Just like every athlete, or any other person considering going to Rio, should be thinking about it."

Hope Solo, goalie for the U.S. women's soccer team, was one of the first prominent Olympians to express concern about the Zika virus back in February, according to Sports Illustrated.

"If I had to make the choice today, I wouldn't go (to the Olympics)," Solo told SI.com then. "I would never take the risk of having an unhealthy child. …No athlete competing in Rio should be faced with this dilemma. Female professional athletes already face many different considerations and have to make choices that male professional athletes don't."

Golfers Vijay Singh and Marc Leishman have pulled out of the Rio Games because of the Zika virus while Rory McIlroy is thinking about doing the same, reported the BBC News. Women's tennis star Serena Williams has expressed concerned about the virus, too, noted USA Today.

Brazil has been one of the hotspots for the Zika virus, which has been connected to severe birth defects and possible neurological problems in adults, reported The Wall Street Journal.

The World Health Organization had declared Zika a global health emergency but on Saturday said there is "no public health justification" to postpone the Rio Olympics, noted USA Today.

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