Tokyo 2020: Myanmar swimmer Win Htet Oo abandons Olympic dream to protest junta, calls on IOC to act against ‘genocidal military’
- The 26-year-old initially wrote to the International Olympic Committee asking to compete as a neutral athlete, but his request was denied
- Oo, whose parents are Burmese, lives in Australia with his family and says he hopes to continue to bring attention to political injustice before Tokyo
Burmese swimmer Win Htet Oo said his love for the sport came early, and fit with his personality.
“I’ve always been a bit of a quiet one, quite introverted, quite shy, and swimming just suited that,” said the 26-year-old who now lives in Melbourne and works part-time as a lifeguard. “Because when you’re underwater you don’t hear anything, you just float.”
Oo, whose parents have Burmese lineage, first ventured into the pool at the age of six while living in Manila. His father, a doctor for the World Health Organization, was stationed there, and Oo soon found himself diving head first into the sport.
“Swimming is a sport that you control the outcome to and that resonated a lot with my values at the time,” he said. “Putting in the hard work for yourself and not relying on a team. I like that sense of self-sufficiency that swimming had and that independence, focusing on every aspect of stroke, from your fingertips down to your toes.”
He was hoping to clock an Olympic standard qualifying time in the 50m freestyle (a time he hit at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games), and first wrote to the International Olympic Committee asking to compete as an independent athlete, but the IOC responded stating it follow the principle of political neutrality.