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.

Featured image credit: Tribune Content Agency LLC / Alamy

A tennis player has been heavily booed by a crowd after "humiliating" a ball girl during her US Open match.On Saturday (August 31), Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva went head-to-head with Italy's Jasmine Paolini at the Louis Armstrong Stadium in New York.The 29-year-old was down 4-2 in the second set when she was spotted interacting with an unnamed ball girl.Footage of the pair's interaction went viral on social media as it showed Putintseva appearing to blatantly ignore the young girl as she attempted to perform her role and toss the balls to her while on serve.Watch the moment below:The shocking clip revealed Putintseva allowing the first ball to bounce off her while appearing to stare directly at the ball girl. She then looked down at the second ball as it hit her foot and bounced off to the side.The frustrated tennis star then caught the third ball before picking up the other two and turning away.The shocked youngster was left in an awkward position and stood there with her hands in the air before running out of the way.The crowd was also stunned by Putintseva's act and booed her.Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan was slammed for her behavior towards the ball girl. Credit: Jamie Squire / GettyOne viewer shared a video of the moment, adding in the caption that Putintseva "should have been thrown out of the competition" as "a young girl [was] humiliated in the stadium and on TV".A second shared a similar comment, which read: "I would ban Yulia Putintseva from the US Open tennis in future. Respect and manners cost nothing."A few famous faces also weighed in on the interaction. Boris Becker, a German former world No. 1 tennis player, criticized Putintseva on X, writing: “Who does Putintseva think she is … Terrible behavior towards the ball girl !!!”Piers Morgan also took to social media and hit out at the athlete's "disgusting arrogance," adding: "The ball girl should have thrown the third one in her taunting face."Three-time Grand Slam doubles champion Rennae Stubbs also chimed in: "The disrespect and obnoxious behavior here is unbelievable and typical from her."Putintseva took to her Instagram story to apologize to the ballgirl. Credit: Instagram StoryAfter the online backlash, Putintseva offered an apology to the ball girl in a since-expired post on her Instagram Stories.“I want to apologize to the ball girl for the way I was when she was giving me balls,” she wrote. “Honestly speaking it was not about her."I was really p**sed at myself by not winning the game from the breakpoint and then got empty with my emotions and deep in my thoughts, that I was not even focusing on what's going on and who gives me the ball," she explained. "All the ball kids were doing amazing as always at the open."Paolini ended up winning the game 6-3, 6-4, and went into the fourth round.Featured image credit: Noam Galai / Getty

MyKayla Skinner has urged her former teammate Simone Biles to help her after internet trolls allegedly threatened her and her family.Skinner has now addressed all the drama via a new Instagram video. Credit: Laurence Griffiths/GettyNow, the tea is well and truly hot in the world of gymnastics after former Team USA member MyKayla Skinner made a few controversial and highly critical comments about the current line-up of gymnasts representing the nation at the Paris Olympics."Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn't like what it used to be. Just notice like, I mean, obviously a lot of girls don't work as hard," the 27-year-old said in a now-deleted video. "The girls just don't have the work ethic."But in true Team USA fashion, Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, and Hezly Rivera managed to prove Skinner wrong, securing themselves a gold medal in the Artistic Gymnastics Women's Team Final.And just to add insult to injury, after their win, Biles took to Instagram to post a handful of photos of herself with her team alongside a savage caption that read: "Lack of talent, lazy, Olympic champions."This then seemed to ignite a whirlwind of hate from social media users who slated Skinner for her harsh comments about the team. She also decided to block Biles on social media, as per a tweet posted by the gold medalist who wrote: "oop I’ve been blocked," alongside the eyes emoji and the laughing-face emoji.But just days after the post, Skinner has now urged Biles for her help to stop the hate against her as it has allegedly spread to her family.Skinner used to perform alongside Biles on the Team USA gymnastics squad. Credit: Patrick Smith/GettyIn the new video posted to Instagram, she alleged that there have been “disgusting” threats of “physical harm” towards, her husband Jonas Harmer, and their daughter, Charlotte.She also acknowledged that her previous comments about the team were distasteful."I made a comment about work ethic and what seems to be taking place with the rising generation," she continued in the clip. "To be totally clear, I take 100 percent responsibility for poorly articulating the point I was trying to make and the last thing I wanted was to cause harm or offend our US Olympic team."I know these women are incredible, the very best of the best, and almost all of them are my former teammates who I have enjoyed very much cheering on the last few years," she added.Skinner has pleaded with Biles to get the hate to stop amid all the controversy surrounding the gymnastics team. Credit: Maja Hitij/GettyShe then went on to explain that even after giving what she believed to be a genuine apology, she was surprised to see the drama being unearthed once more."If Simone truly believes that I called our team lazy and lacking talent and if that’s really how she feels, I am really heartbroken over it," she explained. "But not just heartbroken because it isn’t what I feel or even how I previously said, but because Simone’s latest post and others that followed it fueled another wave of hateful comments, DMs, articles, and emails."To Simone, I am asking you directly and publicly to please put a stop to this," she added. "Please ask your followers to stop. You have been an incredible champion for mental health awareness and a lot of people need your help now. We’ve been attacked in ways that I’m certain you never intended."Your performance, the team’s performance, and the Olympics in general should be a time that we support one another," Skinner concluded.While Biles hasn't directly responded to the 27-year-old's request, she did tell PEOPLE prior to it that it was "important" to her to defend her teammates."It's important because you have to teach them to use their voices and if not, you're a voice for the voiceless..." the champion athlete said."I just felt like it was right in that moment to stand up for them, because they're so young and they haven't fully stood in their power yet," she added.Let's hope all this drama can be put to bed once and for all - and it goes without saying that the messages Skinner has been receiving from trolls are completely unacceptable. Featured Image Credit: Laurence Griffiths/Getty

People are praising Paralympian Jessica Long for opening up about being shamed for using handicapped parking spots despite being an amputee in a video earlier this year.

The Paralympic Games begin in just over a month's time, and one of the competition's biggest stars, 29-year-old Jessica, is proving herself not only to be a fine athlete - but an outspoken activist.

The swimmer, who has competed at four Paralympic Games and won 23 medals, had originally taken to TikTok in January to share an incident in which a lady scolded her for using the handicapped-accessible parking spot - despite her having a disabled person parking permit.

Check out the resurfaced video below:

In the video, which currently has one million likes, the athlete told her followers that when she was parking, a lady in another vehicle made assumptions about her in a matter of moments.

Jessica has fibular hemimilia, which means she was born without her lower legs. And when she was just a year old, her adoptive parents had her undergo leg amputation so she could learn how to walk using prosthetic legs.

Despite this, the lady told Jessica that she shouldn't be parking in the handicapped spot - but when the swimmer informed her that she doesn't actually have legs, the woman "just drove away."

The gold medal-winner went on to comment on how regularly the "handicap police" interfere when she is simply trying to park in a spot that she is perfectly eligible for.

Jessica added: "I was never bullied as a kid and I didn’t know that I was going to be bullied by adults because I park in handicap. And I get it. I’m young, I’m athletic, but I’m also missing legs! And I know I make it look easy, but it’s still really hard. My legs are heavy, they hurt me. I’m in pain."

A number of commenters have taken to the post to praise Jessica while also condemning the woman - and those like her - for making baseless assumptions about her right to use the disabled parking space.

Credit: TikTok Credit: TikTok Credit: TikTok

This certainly isn't the only time, the Paralympian has taken to social media to talk about the challenges that come with parking in a handicapped spot - even as a disabled person.

Last September, she told her followers: "I get two to four comments per week, just going about my normal routine and parking in handicap spaces.

"I’ve had people yell at me, leave notes on my windshield, knock on my car window, or wait for me to get out of my car just to tell me I can’t park there."

"My worst experience to date was an older couple that followed me around a grocery store and kept making comments because they wanted the handicap spot I took and said that I didn’t need it. I even explained I had two prosthetic legs and they told me I was a liar," she added.

Featured image credit: REUTERS / Alamy

Many of us around the world are currently facing an unprecedented lockdown due to the highly infectious and potentially deadly COVID-19.

In the last week or so, the seriousness of the situation has become evident to increasing numbers of us. More and more of us are continuing to self-isolate and practice social distancing in order to slow the spread of the disease.

Related - Hilary Duff calls out the "young millennial a**holes" who insist on partying rather than self-isolating:

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The sheer seriousness of the pandemic is the reason that a Russian fitness model came under fire after recently posting a picture of herself wearing a "bikini" made out of three face masks.

Over the weekend, Yulia Ushakova - who is also a hockey player - took to Instagram to share a snap of herself in the makeshift two-piece, with the caption written in Russian.

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According to Google Translate, the caption reads: "I ordered a new trend of the swimming season 2020 on Ali Express. Built-in valves make breathing easier, but you have to change it every two hours…"

At the time of writing, the photo has managed to rack up 9,655 likes on the photo-sharing platform. But it wasn't long before users began calling Yulia out for being insensitive towards those who have been seriously affected by the pandemic.

"There is a global lack of masks. This is the worst joke I have seen during these horrible days," one Instagrammer wrote, according to The Sun.

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"Totally stupid and disrespectful to all doctors and all those who are suffering. Unfollow right away. Enough," another commented.

"In the moment when those masks can save a life, this is not the best kind of joke you can do," a different user wrote.

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"While hospital staff have to take care of Covid19victims unprotected Instagram creep Yulia ushakova makes bikinis out of face masks #Covid19," a critic wrote on Twitter.

According to The Sun, the athlete has since attempted to delete the negative comments from the post.