Jamaica’s 100m Commonwealth champion Kemar Bailey-Cole has revealed that he has been diagnosed with the Zika virus.
The sprinter, who ran in Jamaica’s gold-winning 4x100m relay squad in London 2012, has said that he only discovered he had the virus after his girlfriend found a lump on his neck.
In light of his condition, the 24-year-old has admitted that he now fears his preparation for next week’s Olympics trials will be implicated.
“I didn’t know I had the virus and I have been training with it for three days now,” he told the Jamaica Gleaner.
“Yes, I am a little worried [about preparation], but I am not letting that get in front of me. I am just praying that I get the strength to carry me through the rounds.
“Recovering is not easy because as we speak, the rashes are still on my body. My eyes hurt, but the best thing is that I am not feeling any muscle pain at the moment.
Bailey-Cole added that he mistook back and muscle pain as soreness from his training.
“I was experiencing back pains and muscle soreness, but I thought it was just soreness from the exercises I was doing,” Bailey-Cole said.
“It is very disappointing but as I said earlier, I was training with it and didn’t know, so I still got in some work but not how I wanted it.
“[I am] just going to trials with the mindset that I am healthy and ready.”
Bailey-Cole won gold in the 100m sprint at the 2014Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and has registered a personal best of 9.92secs.
He missed much of the 2015 season after contracting the Chikungunya virus and was then hindered by a hamstring injury.
Fears over the scale of the Zika virus prompted the World Health Organisation to declare a global public health emergency, although the body said there was no need to postpone the Games.
Rory McIlroy notably withdrew from Rio 2016 due to the threat posed by the Zika virus which has been linked to serious birth defects.
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