World-class athletes are in peak physical health, and they understand the risks of COVID-19, so let them play in the Tokyo Olympics this summer, 1980 Miracle on Ice hockey legend Mike Eruzione tells Newsmax.
"These athletes have trained for a long, long time for that one moment and that one opportunity, and if they're following the safety guidelines, I don't see any reason why it can't continue," Eruzione, who scored Team USA's game-winning goal against the heavily favored Soviet Union ice hockey power during the height of the Cold War in the Lake Placid Games in 1980, told Tuesday's "National Report."
"We've seen it in professional sports where they're in bubbles and they kind of keep to themselves, and follow the rules, follow the codes, and be able to compete."
The 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics have already been postponed one year after the global coronavirus pandemic and they are now slated to begin Friday, July 23 and run through Sunday, Aug. 8.
"I haven't heard anything; I've been watching a little bit of the Trials, especially I've been watching a lot of the swimming Trials, and it seems to not have even have been a discussion" for athletes opting out of competing over safety concerns, Eruzione told host Shaun Kraisman.
"Again, their dreams are in front of them, and I gotta believe they're hoping the games will continue and they will have the opportunity to represent their country and compete."
Healthy individuals with strong immune systems have a far greater chance of overcoming a COVID-19 infection, or even developing any noticeable symptoms, according to health experts.
"If anybody watches the swimmers the other day, it's amazing the condition they're in, but that's what makes them world-class champions; that's what makes them Olympic athletes<' Eruzione said. "They train hard, a lot of hours – not just a day or two – they've been training for years. And this is their opportunity. This is their chance to do something that many have dreamed about their whole lives, so I think physically there in the best shape probably they're ever going to be in their lives."
"I've got to think pretty much everyone is anxious to go."
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Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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