Zika-related withdrawals sign of professional-amateur imbalance in Olympics

Jason Day, Rory McIIroy, Graeme McDowell and a growing list of the world's best male golfers are choosing to pass on the Rio Olympics citing fear of the Zika virus.

Pundits have been quick to question the legitimacy of their fears, many pointing to the lack of Olympic withdrawal by their female counterparts and, in general, the mass participation by athletes from more traditional Olympic sports. 

Other critics are condemning the recent decision to include golf, a professional sport, in the Games in the first place, claiming the professional's passion for the Games isn't Olympic enough. 'Real' Olympic athletes are willing to risk Zika for a chance to be crowned Champion (praise, in my opinion, akin to celebrating the toughness of an athlete playing after sustaining a concussion).    

It shouldn't be news that the Olympics aren't as important to many of the professional athletes competing in Rio as it is to win the pinnacle of their given sport – whether it is the Masters, Wimbledon, or the Tour de France. There's no doubt it remains a worthy accomplishment and an honour to represent your country on the biggest stage, but let's stop pretending it has to be the fulfillment of a dream equal to those athletes competing in more traditional Olympic sports.

As a freestyle skier, the pinnacle in my sport was the Olympic Games. The idols I looked up to were Olympic champions. All of my sporting dreams started and ended with five Olympic rings. Like many of the more traditional Olympic sports, my sport needed the Olympic Games.

Without the IOC and the Olympic spotlight, these athletes in these sports don't have a platform to showcase themselves to the world. They lack the audience to capture the heart of a nation and inspire a child to believe in the impossible.

But that's not the case for golf and other professional sports in the Games.

Nor should we compare the personal choices of some athletes against others. Each athlete has the right to make personal choices when it comes to their health and the health of their families. The Zika virus is no joke. It is primarily transmitted through the bite of infected mosquitoes but it can also be transmitted through sexual contact with semen from an infected man. 

But why is it just men, primarily, that are choosing to skip Rio? 

Some don't need the Olympics

Perhaps it is the simple logic that men are far more likely than their female counterparts to be family planning during their athletic career. The guidelines released by the Government of Canada suggest women wait two months after returning from a Zika infested country before trying to conceive whereas men are suggested to wait a full six months because the infection can remain in their semen.

Men travelling to Brazil, therefore, are potentially putting their partners at risk of a Zika infection for longer than a woman is susceptible on her own. Sounds like the recipe for a personal family decision, one that shouldn't hold judgment for being right or wrong. 

The announcement of the withdrawals puts the spotlight on the power dynamic between professional athletes and the IOC. The inclusion of professional athletes into the Olympic Games continues to shift the paradigm of power from the IOC to the professional sports bodies and their athletes. Golf doesn't need the Olympics or the IOC. Just as hockey doesn't need the Winter Olympics. 

Yet the IOC needs them. Professional sports help drive up Olympic broadcast rights and increase Olympic revenue.

As a former athlete, my hope is the power of the professional athlete's voice will become a powerful voice for all athletes. A voice that ensure the safety of all of our athletes willing to take a risk for the pinnacle of their sport: Olympic glory.