Hayley Wickenheiser calls out IOC in tremendous online rant!

Six-time Olympian, Canadian hockey legend and Hall of Fame member Hayley Wickenheiser has come out with a great statement on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) pushing ahead with the Tokyo Games in the face of a growing threat from the coronavirus outbreak.

On Tuesday, the hockey star accused the IOC of being insensitive and irresponsible and went on an intelligent rant on her Twitter account. 

“This crisis is bigger than even the Olympics,” Wickenheiser said in a statement on Twitter. “Athletes can’t train. Attendees can’t travel plan. Sponsors and marketers can’t market with a degree of sensitivity.

“I think the IOC insisting this will move ahead, with such conviction, is insensitive and irresponsible given the state of humanity.

“We don’t know what’s happening in the next 24 hours, let along in the next three months.”

Wickenheiser competed in five Winter Games in ice hockey and the 2000 Summer Olympics in softball and is now a member of the IOC’s athlete commission who is working towards becoming a medical doctor. 

She has questioned the IOC’s full speed ahead approach to staging the July 24-Aug. 9 Games which she said had been done without acknowledging the challenges posed by the global pandemic.

“No one knows at this point and that IS my point,” said Wickenheiser, winner of four ice hockey Olympic gold medals. “To say for certain they will go ahead is an injustice to the athletes training and global population at large.

“We need to acknowledge the unknown. #COVID19”

Wickenheiser’s comments were made after the IOC met with international sports federations on Tuesday and stated it remains fully committed to the event being staged in four months’ time despite the global spread of coronavirus.

Do you agree with Wickenheiser?