Novak Djokovic puts more people than himself in danger
NOVAK Djokovic travelled to the Australian Open seeking a record 21st major title. Instead, the tennis star may leave with only a well-deserved scolding. His story is just one pandemicera example of would-be role models putting themselves at risk – and their admirers, too.
Djokovic landed at Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport with a medical exemption from the country’s mandatory coronavirus vaccination policy. What condition he claimed warranted the exemption is unclear, though the Sydney Morning Herald reports that previous Covid-19 infection might be his excuse. State and tennis officials had approved the world No. 1’s application, apparently on an anonymous basis; but federal officials cancelled his visa after determining he didn’t meet the qualifications for entry. Now Djokovic is being held in a hotel for undocumented immigrants, pending the hearing of his appeal. He could decide to throw in the towel and head home; contrary to his family’s claims, Australia’s Home Affairs Minister insists Djokovic is not ‘being held captive.’
This is just the latest episode in the Serbian superstar’s pattern of Covid-19 recklessness: his persistent, dismissive attitude toward the disease’s risks; his declared opposition to vaccines; his dangerous charity tournament in the summer of 2020, staged with minimal precautions, after which he, his wife, fellow players and several coaches and trainers tested positive.
Djokovic isn’t alone in his disregard for protocols designed to keep himself, his peers and the public safe. Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers told reporters he was ‘immunised’; when he contracted covid a few months later, fans found out that he wasn’t, and, unsurprisingly, his homeopathic remedies failed to protect him. Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving recently returned to the court (on a
part-time basis) after refusing vaccination, his team apparently having given up trying to force him to get the jab. Many recalcitrant athletes say they want to make the best choice for their bodies, and they claim the experts aren’t in a position to know what that is.
This do-your-own-research mentality hurts athletes. Of course Covid-19 is a relatively new and sometimes
unpredictable malady. But trained experts are in a better position than sports stars to determine what is good for the human body, just as Djokovic is in a better position than his spectators to serve up aces and Rodgers is in a better position than his fans to throw touchdowns, even if sports watchers might at times erroneously imagine they could do a better job.
Worse, sports stars’ attitude threatens everyday people, who are not as physically exceptional yet might nevertheless follow their heroes’ examples. The irresponsibility extends beyond any one pathogen: Remember when Djokovic claimed that positive thoughts could ‘cleanse’ polluted water, because the molecules react to our emotions? And professional athletes are not the only ones setting a bad
example. Look at the celebrities and Silicon Valley hotshots who hawk ‘wellness’ or biohacking regimes.
Djokovic already imperils himself by flouting medical advice. Now, by turning his refusal to follow the rules into a cause celebre, he further pushes his many supporters to act just as irresponsibly.
That’s a double fault. — The Washington Post