An unvaccinated Team USA swimmer at the Tokyo Olympic Games is reportedly under review after refusing to wear a mask for interviews.
Michael Andrew, 22, made the decision to join his teammates in Japan without any protection against Covid-19.
This week, the Olympic swimmer came under fire for answering reporters' questions without wearing any sort of face covering.
On Friday, July 30, Andrew came in fifth place in the men's 200-meter individual medley. Following the medley, he went into the "mixed zone", where reporters chat to athletes about their performance.
When USA Today Sports asked the Olympian why he had chosen not to wear a mask, unlike his more cautious Team USA athletes, he responded: "For me, it's pretty hard to breathe in after kind of sacrificing my body in the water, so I feel like my health is a little more tied to being able to breathe than protecting what's coming out of my mouth.
"I think it's great that there are procedures, but at the end of the day, all of us here have been under quarantine and in the same testing protocol, so there's a level of safety [that's] comfortable when we're racing."
USA Today Sports then stated that after it published a tweet about Andrew from its official account, the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee told the outlet that choosing not to put on a mask violates their rules and regulations.
The US committee stated, per USA Today Sports: "Not wearing a mask is a violation of the COVID mitigation protocols put in place by both the USOPC and TOCOG (the Tokyo Olympic organizers) – protocols we have been adamant in following as a delegation.
"We are currently reviewing this matter with the National Governing Body and will take action as needed."
However, according to the publication, the organization's position on the matter became unclear after it later stated that Andrew "has been reminded of the Games policy and established Covid mitigation protocols," but is permitted to remain maskless while speaking to journalists.
As reported by Associated Press, there are certain protocols in place so that those present at the events are able to stay safe. AP reports that while wearing a mask is not obligatory in the "mixed zone", most athletes do tend to wear them.
