Martyn Rooney believes the threat of the Zika virus means Olympic competitors will have to think twice about taking family to Rio this summer.
Rooney, who captained the Great Britain athletics team at the World Championships in Beijing last summer, will be attempting to win selection in the individual 400 metres and 4x400m relay for the summer Games.
But he could make the trip without his family - wife Kate, who is a former British pole vaulter, and their son Jack - after expressing concern about the spread of the virus.
The World Health Organisation has declared an international emergency over the virus, which is linked to birth defects in Brazil and the Americas and spread by bites from mosquitoes.
European 400m champion Rooney told the Daily Telegraph: "I definitely think for my wife and my son, it would have a large impact on the decision on whether they come out or not.
"My wife is planning to come but if it's not a safe place to be then I wouldn't want to put her in harm's way."
He added: "If the World Health Organisation is putting out a global warning then that's a pretty dangerous place and it's probably quite irresponsible to bring your family there."
The Olympics runs from August 5 to 21, and is followed by the Paralympics from September 7 to 18, with many thousands of competitors and spectators due to travel to Brazil from countries across the world.
Rooney, 28, said: "I'm sure that if there's somebody in a similar position to me who has got a young family or is planning to start a family, it would have a major influence on what they're doing."
Like Rooney, modern pentathlete Samantha Murray is hoping to compete at the Olympics.
The 26-year-old, who won silver for Great Britain at London 2012, admits there is a fear factor but is confident the British Olympic Association will not put athletes at risk.
Murray told BBC Sport: "It is scary and daunting when looking at the news.
"It puts fear in everyone but as an athlete you get used to travelling around the world where you are at risk of infection. We have been assured by experts and Team GB and BOA that everything is being done to prepare the team.
"I have a chance at a second Olympics and I believe in the team around me and the medical team."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here