Still, the media stigmatizes disease prevention while minimizing serious risks of Long COVID.
Despite a lack of COVID-19 precautions implemented by the 2026 Winter Olympics organizers in Italy, some athletes, teams, and their loved ones are protecting themselves from airborne pathogens by masking and isolating.
These precautions were put in the spotlight last week before the games officially began when some members of the U.S. men’s and women’s cross-country ski team attended press conferences in respirators. Then, on the way to Friday’s opening ceremony, some Olympians sported respirators and other high-quality masks, protecting themselves from COVID-19 and other airborne pathogens that could affect their health or performances — or, if they developed Long COVID, their careers.
The COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing as the virus continues to spread around the world unchecked, causing further death and disability. The virus has caused over 25 million excess deaths, while more than 400 million people have been affected by Long COVID.
Just before the games started, two members of the Australian team’s staff tested positive for COVID-19 at a training facility in Italy, according to ABC News. Meanwhile, various outlets have reported that an “outbreak” of norovirus has affected many hockey teams in Italy. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) claimed there is “absolutely no outbreak” of that virus.
In interviews and press conferences, Olympians and their coaches have elaborated on the extent of precautionary measures some are taking at the games to avoid pathogens. Kristen Bourne, a coach of the U.S. women’s cross-country ski team, told Faster Skier that the team is staying in a separate, private hotel to avoid the Olympic village and members are wearing masks indoors. Some other teams are taking similar measures.
“We have closed our hotel. We don’t want outsiders in, and we don’t want infections to come in,” Swedish cross-country ski team doctor Rickard Noberius told Expressen. “So, it’s just us and the family who run the hotel — and they have been given strict restrictions as well.” (Editor’s note: These quotes were translated from Swedish.)
Many of these athletes are also taking precautions by isolating and masking around family members and friends — something disabled people, including those with Long COVID, have been doing since the beginning of the pandemic. Still, media outlets reporting on the precautions have shown their biases and incorrectly said the pandemic is over in a standard “back to normal” narrative.
NPR wrote in the opening of an article on athletes’ COVID-19 precautions, “For most people, if not everyone, the pandemic days of masking are behind us.”
In social posts for the story, NPR also called the precautions “extreme,” despite millions of disabled and immunocompromised people around the world who continue to take COVID-19 precautions daily as SARS-CoV-2 and other pathogens spread. Similarly, the Associated Press called Olympians taking precautions “worried” in a headline. The AP also framed prior Winter Olympics, like Beijing 2022, which did have mandatory COVID-19 precautions, as “sports prison.”
These framing choices have been criticized by many on social media as condescending and misleading, minimizing the very serious risks of COVID-19 and other pathogens that can cause long-term illness and disability.
COVID-19 has caused many Olympians and other athletes to miss important competitions and games in their careers; others have competed while actively infected. During the 2024 summer Olympics, runner Noah Lyles competed two days after being diagnosed with COVID-19 and collapsed at the end of a race. Long COVID experts have advised extreme rest during and after COVID-19 to help avoid the potential of Long COVID.
Olympians, just like anyone, are at risk of Long COVID. Studies have shown that the risk of the disabling disease may increase with each SARS-CoV-2 infection and trigger or worsen diagnoses, including myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). Professional basketball player Kristaps Porziņģis was diagnosed with POTS last year and it has sidelined him for much of the season.
Olympians, just like anyone, are at risk of Long COVID. Studies have shown that the risk of the disabling disease may increase with each SARS-CoV-2 infection and trigger or worsen diagnoses.
The Sick Times has also reported on elite athletes who have developed Long COVID. Athletes shared their stories about how the disease has put many of them on the bench and greatly affected their careers and finances. Research has found that the disease lowers VO2 max (the body’s ability to absorb oxygen), weakens lung muscles, and causes muscle fibers to die off after long bouts of exercise.
Other research has shown that U.S. Marines, known for their high caliber of fitness, have also been heavily impacted by Long COVID. A 2024 study found that 25% of the Marine cohort developed the disease.
Novie McCabe, from the U.S. women’s cross-country ski team, told Faster Skier last December that she’s experienced “mystery health challenges” for the past two years, alongside managing celiac disease and Hashimoto’s disease.
She told the outlet that doctors have said she likely has a “post-viral illness” and a “chronic fatigue type-thing,” potentially a reference to ME, a disabling neurological disease (as defined by the World Health Organization) with which many people with Long COVID have also been diagnosed. The disease has been called “chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)” in the past, but myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) is preferred by many people with the disease. Sometimes it’s referred to as “ME/CFS.”
A cardinal feature of ME is post-exertional malaise (PEM), in which a constellation of debilitating symptoms can worsen following physical, cognitive, or emotional exertion. These disabling symptoms may last days, weeks, or permanently alter someone’s health baseline. Research has found serious muscle abnormalities in people with ME and Long COVID.
“I have taken a pretty cautious approach to training this year and just been trying to build back into it super slowly and give a lot of extra attention to rest and recovery,” McCabe told Faster Skier last year.
The 2026 games put a spotlight on how collective public health failures of governments and the IOC have made specific teams and athletes take their own precautions as the world continues to ignore the COVID-19 pandemic. Like many disabled and immunocompromised people, these athletes and teams are forced to put their health first, despite overwhelming stigma against masking and other COVID-19 precautions and despite the overwhelming research that shows the adverse effects of SARS-CoV-2 infections.
The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, also did not have any COVID-19 precautions for athletes or attendees. This lack of foresight during a surge of COVID that summer forced a group of Olympic volunteers to quit.
“We want basic precautions, measures we’ve implemented…we know these work and are validated by science. Why aren’t they being used?” one volunteer told The Sick Times that summer.
We want basic precautions, measures we’ve implemented…we know these work and are validated by science. Why aren’t they being used?
2024 summer Olympics volunteer
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