In Coronavirus Outbreak, the High-Five Is Left Hanging

“If one person has a sickness within the team, everyone always gets it,” the soccer star Megan Rapinoe said. “So hopefully,” she said of coronavirus, “no one gets it.”

Besides, some athletes simply cannot grasp the logic of leaving someone hanging.

Before the women’s soccer game last Sunday, Rapinoe, a noted nonconformist, was the only American player who gave traditional high-fives to the opposing players from Spain.

“We’re going to be sweating all over each other all game,” Rapinoe reasoned later, “so it sort of defeats the purpose of not doing a handshake.”

And sure enough, the match featured the normal number of germ-exchanging opportunities, perhaps undermining the moments of high-five abstinence. Within seconds of the opening whistle, defender Emily Sonnett, who had used elbow taps throughout warm-ups, offered her hand to a Spanish player who had fallen down. Other players shared water bottles, high-fived while celebrating Julie Ertz’s winning goal and shook hands with the Spanish players after the final whistle.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/sports/basketball/coronavirus-high-five.html