It may be as stereotypically British as fish and chips or warm beer but Team GB's athletes are being advised not to shake hands with rivals or dignitaries at the London Games for fear of wrecking their medal chances.
Dr Ian McCurdie, the British Olympic Association chief medical officer, said that illness was one of the major threats to performance in the "pretty hostile environment" of the Olympic Village.
Asked whether that meant athletes should avoid shaking hands, Dr McCurdie said: "I think, within reason, yes." He added: "I think that is not such a bad thing to advise. The difficulty is when you have got some reception and you have got a line of about 20 people you have never met before who you have got to shake hands with."
The BOA advises the use of regular handwashing and anti-bacterial hand foam as part of its official advice to the 550 athletes it will take to the Games as part of Britain's biggest ever team.
British Cycling's performance director, Dave Brailsford, and the BOA director of sport, Sir Clive Woodward, are among those who have advocated regular use of hand sprays to combat the threat of picking up a bug that could spread through the team and support staff.
Dr McCurdie said: "Essentially we are talking about minimising risk of illness and optimising resistance. Minimising exposure and getting bugs into the system and being more robust to manage those should that happen. Hand hygiene is it. It is all about hand hygiene."
But tThe advice was described as "a bit odd" by Debrett's, the accepted authority on British etiquette. "It is the normal English greeting," the etiquette adviser Liz Wyse told the Associated Press. "It is a bit of a sad thing if people are worried about shaking hands in case it spreads disease. It's not very sociable."
