A Myanmar swimmer will skip the Tokyo Olympics in protest against the coup perpetrated by his country’s military, saying he will not represent his nation when hundreds of protesters have been killed by authorities.
Win Htet Oo, a 26-year-old freestyle swimmer, said in a statement posted on his Facebook page on April 10 that he will not participate in the Tokyo Games at a time when the military junta continues its violent crackdown that has killed unarmed civilians, including some athletes.
“I shall not march in the parade of nations under a flag steeped in my people’s blood,” the Myanmar swimmer said in the statement.
He noted the International Olympic Committee communicated to him privately that the Myanmar Olympic Committee plans to send a team to the Tokyo Games.
But he said, “It is my hope that the IOC refuses to acknowledge the MOC as the rightful organization responsible for the Olympic Movement in Myanmar,” adding the MOC is a puppet organization for the military regime.
Read Kyodo News and The Jakarta Post
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