sOLYMPICS roundup

Health risk

Mexico athletes get aid fanny pack

Mexico City

Epidemiologists from Mexico’s public health agency will accompany the country’s athletes to the Olympic Games for the first time this summer.

Deputy Health Secretary Pablo Kuri Morales says the specialists will monitor athletes and try to keep them healthy in Rio de Janeiro next month.

Each athlete will receive a fanny pack containing insect repellent and condoms.

Brazil has seen an outbreak of the mosquito-transmitted Zika virus, which has been linked to devastating birth defects and a rare paralysis. Water-borne illnesses in Rio’s polluted waterways are a concern for athletes competing in those venues. Zika can also be transmitted sexually.

Mexican Olympic delegation chief Mario Garcia de la Torre said Monday that no athletes have requested to leave the team due to health fears.

GOLF

U.S. has most golfers at Olympic games

Colorado Springs, Colo.

Golf’s return to the Olympics after 112 years will have seven Americans, the most of any country for men and women.

It just won’t have their top two men.

USA Golf nominated the players, who qualified through the world ranking last week. They require U.S. Olympic Committee approval.

U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson and two-time major champion Jordan Spieth withdrew, Johnson because of the Zika virus threat and Spieth for overall health concerns.

The Americans have four men from the top 15 — Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler, Patrick Reed and Matt Kuchar. The women have three players from the top 15 — Lexi Thompson, Stacy Lewis and Gerina Piller.

Countries can have two players to fill each 60-player field, and up to four if all are inside the top 15.

GOLF

Villegas drops out, citing Tour status

TROON, Scotland

Camilo Villegas of Colombia pulled out of the Olympics on Monday because he is trying to keep his job on the PGA Tour.

Villegas had indicated for the last two weeks that he wanted to be in Rio for golf’s return to the Olympics for the first time since 1904. While he considered the Zika virus — Villegas and his wife are trying to start a family — his main concern was work.

Having pulled out the Barbasol Championship last week with a thumb injury, he is No. 146 in the FedEx Cup standings. Only the top 125 advance to the playoffs and keep full cards for the following season, and Villegas has only four tournaments left. He is playing the RBC Canadian Open this week.

“This is an incredibly difficult decision for me, but ultimately I have to do what’s best for my career,” Villegas said.

He is the 21st male golfer to withdraw from the Olympics, and he joins Brendon de Jonge of Zimbabwe in citing his job security for pulling out.

RUGBY

Ebner, Potter highlight U.S. roster

LAFAYETTE, COLO.

USA rugby announced its men’s and women’s Olympic roster Monday in a list that includes New England Patriots special teams player Nate Ebner and veteran Jillion Potter, who was diagnosed with cancer two years ago.

The 30-year-old Potter found out she had Stage III synovial sarcoma in 2014.

Ebner was kept under contract by the Patriots while training with the rugby squad at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California. He was a sixth-round pick by New England out of Ohio State in 2012.

Staff/wire reports