Rafael Nadal said he was not frightened by the Zika virus as he prepares in Brazil — the center of the viral outbreak — for this week’s Rio Open tournament and the city’s Olympics in less than six months.


Nadal won Olympic gold in the Beijing Olympics cheap nike free metcon , but missed London with an injury.


“I’m doing the things the people have told me,” Nadal said on Monday. “I’m going out at night. I’m not scared. I’m not worried about this.


“If it happens, it’s bad luck.”


Nadal is the top-seeded man in the tournament and fellow Spaniard David Ferrer is No. 2. Both said they were confident the tournament was doing all it could to control the mosquitoes that spread the virus.


The virus is being linked to birth defects, and pregnant women have been cautioned not to travel to the country.


“I don’t know how serious the situation is,” Nadal said. “I see people living here totally normally. I see people on the streets, on the beach and in the restaurants. Things are going on like normal.”


Brazil began a campaign of spraying pesticides and distributing informational leaflets with more than 200,000 soldiers spread out across the country.


Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has said “we’re at war against the mosquito” and she has repeatedly guaranteed the outbreak will not derail the Olympics that open August 5.


Ferrer said he’ll wear long sleeves and long trousers when he goes out socially in the morning and evening. “I’ll try to take those precautions, but I’m not obsessed about it,” Ferrer said.


Both Spaniards were asked to reply to comments last week by Spanish swimmer Mireia Belmonte, a two-time Olympic silver medalist in London in 2012, who said she “would not attend” the Olympics if she thinks her health is at risk.


She echoed American women’s national soccer goalkeeper Hope Solo who said last week “if the Olympics were today, I would not go.”


Neither Nadal nor Ferrer elaborated on Belmonte’s comments. “I have talked to the local players here, and they are not giving it much importance,” Ferrer said. “There is a lot still to be known about Zika and nothing is 100 percent certain.”


Meanwhile, Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic became the first teenager in seven years to reach the top 10 of the WTA rankings after she climbed to ninth in the world on Monday.


A run to the final at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy ensured that Bencic, 18, became the first woman aged under 20 to enter the top 10 since Caroline Wozniacki in 2009. Maria Sharapova’s triumph at the 2006 US Open was the last time a teenaged player won a slam.




NAIROBI， Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- Top Kenyan track and field stars have hailed the initiative that will see a pool of experienced local doctors vet them of doping before being allowed to feature in international meets.


Athletics Kenya (AK) on Tuesday announced a programme in conjunction with world governing body - the IAAF - and the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) that will see only athletes given the green light to compete by the Kenya Doctors Network (KDN) entered in competition.


This is aimed at getting the country off the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) watch list following the spike of doping cases in the global distance running powerhouse.


"It is in this regard that we have worked on an action plan with IAAF to deal with the utmost importance and priority levels in order to confine the actual doping epidemic in the country.


"This plan is such that a first sample of trusted and skilled Kenyan doctors has been identified to form the KDN. Their responsibility is to take care of Kenyan top-level runners and limit bad medical practices and doping promotion behaviours by some Kenyan health professionals，" AK President Lt. Gen (Rtd) Jackson Tuwei said.


Consequently， the federation has invited 108 elite athletes to a seminar in the distance running heartland of Eldoret in northern Kenya where the new programme will be rolled out.


Convicted drug cheat and the poster girl of Kenyan doping， Rita Jeptoo， whose ban was extended to four years following an appeal by world body IAAF against the initial two-year suspension by AK late last year， is among those invited for the seminar.


Others include Olympic champions， David Rudisha (men 800m)， Eliud Kipchoge (men marathon)， Conseslus Kipruto (men 3000m steeplechase)， Vivian Cheruiyot (women 5000m)， Faith Chepng'etich Kipyegon (women 1500m) and Jemimah Sumgong (women marathon).


World champions， Asbel Kiprop (men 1500m)， Julius Yego (men Javelin) and Nicholas Bett (men 400m Hurdles) are among a slew of distance running greats expected to converge for the seminar.


Two-time world marathon champion and 2012 Olympics silver winner， Abel Kirui welcomed the programme saying it would go a long way assuring the world Kenyan runners compete clean.


The 2015 Chicago Marathon champion who was beaten by Kirui to the crown last year added the initiative would help weed out those potential drug cheats before they leave the country.


"The world will know that we do not need to dope to win. They will know that we are purely talented and be assured that our athletes compete clean and fair，" added Chumba who is aiming to reclaim his Tokyo Marathon he last won in 2014 next month.


"Though I do not know much about the Network， I hope we shall learn a lot and know what is expected of us and how to access the doctors，" he added.


Kiprop who is going for a fourth world title in London this summer also supported the programme.


"It's a good idea to root them off before spoiling for majority who are running clean，" he added


AK has turned to the Network following concern over the rise of doping cases that saw the country placed on the WADA watch list last year， a status that was extended to 2017 despite the enactment of a law that outlaws doping and establishment of ADAK.


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