According to AP, 550 athletes have been advised to avoid shaking hands during the 2012 Olympics in London out of fear of getting sick. Ian McCurdie, chief medical officer of the British Olympic Association (BOA), shared his opinions on why no handshakes should go down at the Olympic Village:
“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.”
Hasn't he heard of hand sanitizers. And besides, deliberately refusing to shake hands is one thing but isn't it also part of the normal English greeting formalities? 
