21 March 2020

British discus thrower Jade Lally slams 'insensitive' IOC and says 'nobody on the planet is training as they normally would'

British discus thrower Jade Lally has criticised the 'insensitive' way in which the International Olympic Committee is still insisting the Tokyo Games will happen this summer.

And Lally, who came 28th at the Rio Games in 2016, feels there is no need for the IOC to delay their decision.

Speaking to BBC Sport, she said: “I don’t think the 24 July should be the start. It’s too soon. I think the IOC are being very insensitive, and I don’t know if blasé is maybe the right word, but they’re not thinking about things.

“They can’t tell us to ‘train as normal’, because nobody can train as normal. Literally nobody on the planet is training as they normally would.

“Everyone is having to make adjustments and everyone has got in the back of their mind ‘is the Olympics going to happen, is it going to be delayed, is it going to be cancelled'?"

The 32 year-old also added that putting the Games on as scheduled would  'isn't fair' on athletes and that competitors need to be 'reassured' now that they will not begin in July.

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