USA Track, swimming are pushing to postpone Olympics in Japan
U.S. Olympic leaders face a growing rebellion after the USA Track and Field chief added to the call for a postponement of the Tokyo Games because of the coronavirus crisis.
CEO Max Siegel sent a two-page note to his counterpart at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, Sarah Hirshland, asking the federation to advocate for a delay. It came late Friday, only a few hours after USA Swimming’s CEO sent a similar letter.
Now, the sports that accounted for 65 of America’s 121 medals and 175 of its 554 athletes at the last Summer Games are on record in urging, in Siegel’s words, “the USOPC, as a leader within the Olympic Movement, to use its voice and speak up for the athletes.”
The federations in Norway and Brazil have each made requests to postpone.
“Our clear recommendation is that the Olympic Games in Tokyo shall not take place before the COVID-19 situation is under firm control on a global scale,” Norway’s federation wrote in a letter to IOC President Thomas Bach.
Hirshland and the
USOPC board chairwoman, Susanne Lyons, were insistent that the USOPC won’t sacrifice athlete safety in the current crisis. But they stopped well short of pushing the IOC toward a postponement.
“The decision about the games does not lie directly with us,” Lyons said in a conference call with reporters Friday.
“It lies with WHO, the Japanese government and the IOC. Under no circumstance would the USOPC send atheltes into harm’s way if didn’t think it was safe.”
ETC.
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