Double Olympic gold medallist, Nils van der Poel, has slammed the decision to host the Winter Games in China.
The Swedish skater won gold in both the men’s 5,000 and 10,000 metre speed skating.
While reaping the rewards of his performances, van der Poel was quick to criticise the decision to award the Games to China.
“I think it’s terrible, but I think I shouldn’t say too much about it, because we still have a squad in China,” he told SportBladet.
The interview has been translated into English, with van der Poel saying: “The Olympics is a lot, it’s a fantastic sporting event where you unite the world and nations meet.
“But so did Hitler before invading Poland, and so did Russia before invading Ukraine.”
China have reported detained more than one million Uyghur Muslims, according to Human Rights groups.
“I think it is extremely irresponsible to give it to a country that violates human rights as blatantly as the Chinese regime is doing.”
You can find more celebrity news on our website and iOS & Android application.