We’re playing the tiniest of violins for Sam Kendricks, the champion pole vaulter from Mississippi who was thrown out of the Tokyo Games after testing positive for COVID-19. Everyone long knew that officials in Japan planned to isolate any infected athletes from other participants and the population at large.
Back in June, reporters asked Kendricks whether he had been vaccinated. He wouldn’t say, only noting that he got tested a lot for the virus. We take that as a no — that he didn’t bother doing what almost 60% of American adults had done. Testing isn’t protection against COVID-19. Vaccinations are.
You can say they were knuckleheads. And if their refusal to protect themselves smashed their Olympic dreams, well, my eyes are dry.
