International Olympic Committee member Hayley Wickenheiser says that plans for the Tokyo Games to go ahead are "insensitive and irresponsible".
Japan's Olympic minister said the nation is still planning for a "complete" staging of the Games, despite the coronavirus pandemic.
Wickenheiser says this crisis is bigger than even the Olympics.
She says we don't know what's happening in the next 24 hours, let alone the next three months.
Wickenheiser was part of the Canada team that won four successive ice hockey golds at the Winter Olympics.
Writing on Twitter, she added, from an athlete perspective, she can only imagine and try to empathize with the anxiety and heartbreak athletes are feeling right now.
She adds athletes can't train, attendees can't travel pan and sponsors and marketers can't market with any degree of sensitivity.
Wickenheiser says she thinks the IOC insisting this will move ahead, with such conviction, is insensitive and irresponsible given the state of humanity.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) says it does not plan any "drastic" decisions and remains fully committed the Games.
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