Making Olympics just the start for athletes avoiding COVID

By JIMMY GOLEN
AP Sports Writer

Athletes can spend decades trying to become the best in the world, and another year or two to qualify for what could be their only trip to the Olympics. And this year, they realize, it can start to fall apart with a single sneeze. With Beijing Olympic organizers adopting a “zero COVID” policy and strict testing just to get on flights to China, skiers, sliders and skaters are taking extreme measures to avoid the coronavirus and its omicron variant. The pandemic already has derailed the Olympic plans for several athletes. Others, including would-be U.S. flag bearer Elana Meyers Taylor, can only hope for the handful of negative tests that would allow them to fly to China to compete.