Veteran International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound told USA TODAY Sports Monday that he understands why the Canadian Olympic Committee CEO said he is “worried” about the Beijing Winter Olympics going ahead next month as planned in the midst of the explosion of the omicron COVID-19 variant around the world.
“If I were in his shoes, that’s what I would be saying,” said Pound, at 79 the longest-serving IOC member. “If you’re the CEO of a national Olympic committee, you have to have the public demeanor of not being blind to the possibility that the whole thing could blow up.