On her way to her morning workout, Ashley Nee walks by a wooden palate piled with cases of Off! repellent. The windows on her 15th floor apartment in Rio de Janiero's Olympic Village are fitted with screens. She brought long-sleeve shirts for her competition, which begins on Monday in Rio's Dedoro Whitewater Stadium. That's the venue where more than 3,000 gallons per second of chlorinated water gets pumped through a challenging course of gates, waves and drops.
Nee says she isn't worried about getting Zika.
"I haven't seen one mosquito," said Nee, a 27-year old whitewater kayaker from Darnestown, Md., who arrived in Rio several days ago. "I'm trying to do my best, and it's just a distraction."
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While a few high-profile athletes -- golfers, cyclists, tennis and basketball players -- skipped the Rio Olympics this year because of fears about the Zika virus, thousands of others have made the trip and are doing just fine.
Brazil has reported 150,000 Zika infections this year as well as a cluster of more than 5,000 cases of microcephaly, a cognitive disorder of newborn babies characterized by malformed brains, in the country's northeast region. Despite these numbers, there is some evidence that the risk of a huge pandemic may be easing.
Kayaker Ashley Nee made it to Rio on her third attempt.
Team USA
This week, Brazilian public health officials and medical researchers said they are still trying to figure out the pattern of infection and why there hasn't been a more predictable increase in microcephaly cases.
Like Nee, many athletes came prepared. The South Korean squad is wearing repellent-infused shirts and jackets, while Australian sport officials distributed condoms coated with an antiviral lubricant to protect against sexual transmission of the Zika virus. Team USA has added extra medical staff for athletes.
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Nee said she and her wife discussed the issue before coming to Rio.
"We are in the stage of thinking of starting a family," she said. "We had a conversation about Zika. She said you've been trying to get here for 12 years. Go and compete and we'll figure out Zika afterward."
Nee's decision is backed up by a recent study by researchers at the Yale School of Medicine who concluded that the risk of getting Zika in Rio was extremely low -- between 3 and 37 actual infections for thousands of fans, athletes and judges for the three-week event.
For Nee, the rewards of making her first Olympic team in three tries are much greater than any potential risk. It's been a long road to Rio.
After qualifying for the 2008 Beijing games, she dislocated her shoulder while training. Her 2012 bid ended in a tie with another competitor. She lost the tie-breaker.
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Unlike some sports, whitewater kayaking has almost no financial rewards or endorsement potential. But Nee didn't give up. Encouraged by her family and other competitors, Nee spent another four years training on the Potomac River near Washington and traveling to competitions around the world.
"I'm here to kayak," Nee said. "Every Olympics has its challenges. For me it's the Olympic games and it feels like it down here. Everyone is really excited and ready to compete."
Family members of other U.S. Olympians in Rio are also taking precautions, but not letting the Zika threat ruin years of training, sweat and (in some cases) self-imposed poverty.
Angela McFadden is mother of two track athletes competing at the Rio Para-Olympics in September -- sisters Tatyana and Hannah McFadden. She'll be in the stands cheering.
"We'll be slathered with bug spray," Angela McFadden said. "We are aware and paying attention but not panicking."
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