Top French tennis star INJURED by COVID vaccine booster dose

02/24/2022 / By Ramon Tomey

France’s No. 1 tennis star said he was injured by the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine booster dose. Gael Monfils confirmed the vaccine injury on social media, adding that he will be unable to play in an upcoming tournament.

Monfils tweeted about the injury on Feb. 22. He wrote: “I suffered a small health problem, probably following my third dose of the vaccine. On the advice of my doctor, I decided to take time to rest. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to play the Davis Cup next week. I hope to be able to return to the United States.”

Ranked as the No. 25 best male tennis player in the world, the 35-year-old Monfils won his first world title at the 2022 Adelaide International 1 in South Australia. He managed to reach the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in Melbourne, before losing to Italian player Matteo Berrettini.

A day after he gave an update about his health condition, Monfils took to Twitter to denounce individuals using his post to push anti-vaccination ideas. He reiterated having no regrets about being injected with the COVID-19 vaccine.

He tweeted on Feb. 23: “[The] tweet was a simple update on my current state of form. After several examinations, the doctors made a hypothesis about the potential nature of my state of health. My goal was simply to be transparent with you and not to push [anti-vaccine] propaganda.”

“Let’s stop appropriating everyone’s words for political purposes or simply to serve your convictions. I don’t regret getting vaccinated at all. Everyone does what they want,” concluded Monfils.

Tennis stars, other athletes injured by the COVID vaccines

Monfils is the second French tennis star to suffer a vaccine injury after being injected with the COVID-19 shot. Back in September 2021, Jeremy Chardy suffered a severe adverse reaction to the Pfizer vaccine he received a month before. He has not played a match since the U.S. Open last summer, causing his world ranking to drop to No. 138 from his pre-vaccination rank of No. 73.

The 34-year-old Chardy revealed that time his intentions to get the COVID-19 shot. However, it caused a “series of problems” that prevented him from training and playing the sport. “Since I got my vaccine, I have a problem, I have a series of problems. As a result, I can’t train [and] I can’t play. I prefer to take more time to heal myself and be sure that, in the future, I won’t have any problems,” he told French sports newspaper L’Equipe.

“At the moment, my season is stopped and I don’t know when I’ll start again. So now, I regret having taken the vaccine – but I couldn’t have known. It’s the first time that the idea that [the] next [tennis] season might be my last has crossed my mind.”

Aside from Monfils and Chardy, French freediver Florian Dagoury also suffered a vaccine injury after getting the second dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. The Thailand-based Dagoury made his name as the world’s top static freediver by holding his breath for 10 minutes and 30 seconds. However, the cardiac issues he suffered after the vaccines undermined his ability to maintain this record. (Related: World’s top static freediver reports cardiac problems following second Pfizer shot.)

Dagoury initially dismissed the higher heart rate he experienced as a normal side effect of the vaccine. When the issue did not go away after 40 days, he visited a cardiologist who diagnosed him with myocarditis and trivial mitral regurgitation. Myocarditis involves the inflammation of the heart muscle, while trivial mitral regurgitation involves the heart valve improperly closing and pushing a small amount of blood back.

According to the freediver, the cardiac issues following his vaccination reduced his diving performance by 30 percent. Dagoury now struggles to hold his breath for eight minutes, and he now feels a strong urge to breathe upon reaching a depth of 40 meters.