Tomas Berdych is the latest star that has decided not to play in Rio over the concerns about the Zika virus; Simona Halep and Milos Raonic have just retired for the same reason. The Golf’s list of participants has also been decimated after 20 top players decided not to take a chance in Rio.

The communicate

Tomas communicated his decision on Facebook and Twitter.

“I am very sorry to announce that I will not take part in this year’s Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. It was a hard decision for me to take after a long and painstaking discussion with my dearest. It’s purely my personal decision, but I still feel a need to give at least one of the serious reasons leading to this step to my supporters and fans.
It is because of the zika virus spread in the country of the Olympics. As I have founded a family recently to limit health risks towards my nearest is the utmost priority.
I apologize to all of you who are disappointed by my decision. I do believe that if you take a deeper account of my reasons you will understand that I have done it out of the responsibility for my family. I wish the Czech team a big success and I hope that I will soon be honored to defend the Czech national colors again.

Tomáš Berdych”

I am very sorry to announce… pic.twitter.com/5z45ZS4K2R

— Tomáš Berdych (@tomasberdych) July 16, 2016