British Olympian slams IOC chief over Olympics

LONDON: British track cyclist Callum Skinner has labelled International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach "arrogant" and "stubborn" over the organisation’s approach to the coronavirus pandemic.

The IOC, which has faced strong pressure to postpone the Tokyo Games, scheduled to start on July 24, announced on Sunday delaying the event was one of its options. Bach said a decision on when the Olympics would take place would be made "within the next four weeks". Canada has pulled out of the Games and Japan’s prime minister on Monday admitted a delay may be "inevitable".

Skinner, who won gold and silver medals at the 2016 Olympics and is a member of the British Olympic Association’s (BOA) athletes’ commission, was scathing about Bach in a social media post on Monday. "IOC president Thomas Bach’s stubbornness and arrogance has spectacularly failed in this instance and he has weakened the Olympic movement," Skinner wrote on Twitter. "This isn’t the first time he has put his own motives above the athletes and the movement." British sprint star Dina Asher-Smith, who won the 200 metres world title last year, said the IOC’s delay created further uncertainty for competitors.