Some eyebrows were raised when Rory McIlroy pulled out of the Rio Olympics citing fears over the Zika virus.
Of course Zika was a serious concern for several athletes but many felt that there were more factors at play for the Holywood golfer.
In the run-up to the Games’ opening ceremony, McIlroy went in hard against the return of golf to the Olympic schedule and announced that he would be focusing on “the stuff that matters.”
“I’ll probably watch the Olympics, but I’m not sure golf is one of the sports I’ll watch.”
The world number 3 has since claimed that the sport’s reintroduction to the Games was a successful one but he has also suggested that the political strain based on where he’s from played a part in his decision to pull out.
“The participation in the Olympics, for me it’s just a little more complicated than for some other people, (because of) where I’m from and the whole politics of the thing,” McIlroy said, via AFP.
“I was really happy with how golf went in the Olympics, he continued. “I turned it on in the final afternoon and … you could sense an atmosphere in the crowd.
“It was fantastic for golf, and to have two of our best players in the world battling it out for a gold medal, it was great for the game.
“I was delighted by how well it went and honestly, I was happy to be watching on TV.”
Which country McIlroy would choose to declare for became a huge talking point two years ago before he announced that he would represent Team Ireland in Rio.
That seemed at odds with comments he’d made earlier in his career, when he claimed that in spite of playing for most of his life under the Golfing Union of Ireland umbrella, he still felt British.
“The fact is, I’ve always felt more British than Irish,” McIlroy told the Daily Mail in 2012.
It seems like that British/Irish dilemma is still playing on the mind of McIlroy and it led to ultimate decision to represent neither at Rio.
So it wasn’t just Zika then…
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