ATHLETICS

Photo Credit: Robbin Emmolt

BRUSSELS, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Lithuania's foreign minister said on Monday he would not attend the 2022 Olympic Games in China as France and the Netherlands sought a common position on a European Union responseto highlight Chinese human rights abuses.

Photo Credit: Chang W. Lee

Sha'Carri Richardson confirmed on Friday she tested positive for marijuana at the US Olympic athletics trials and will be barred from the 100m at the Tokyo Games.

Speaking on US Olympic telecaster NBC's "Today" show, 21-year-old Richardson said she took marijuana to cope with "a state of emotional pain" after learning of the death of her biological mother from a reporter at the US Olympic trials last month in Eugene, Oregon.

The US Anti-Doping Agency announced moments after her confession that Richardson has accepted a one-month ban from 28 June, meaning her 100m victory at the trials has been cancelled.

Reigning world 100m champion Christian Coleman is facing a two-year suspension after revealing on Tuesday he missed a drugs test last December.

The US sprint star -- who only narrowly avoided being banned last year after three violations of anti-doping "whereabouts" rules across 2018 and 2019 -- revealed details of his latest missed test in a statement on Twitter.

Coleman said he had unsuccessfully challenged an Athletics Integrity Unit finding that he missed a test on December 9 2019.

"And now this might result in me being suspended from other filing failures that occurred well over a year ago at this point," Coleman said.

The Tokyo Olympics would have to be scrapped if the already postponed event cannot be held next year, the head of International Olympic Committee has said.

In March, the IOC and Japanese government took the unprecedented decision to postpone the Olympics, which had been due to start in July 2020, for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

However, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said the multi-sports event cannot take place in 2021 unless the virus is contained and IOC president Thomas Bach said he understood his position.

"Quite frankly, I have some understanding for this, because you can't forever employ 3,000 or 5,000 people in an organising committee," Bach told the BBC in an interview published on Wednesday.

Dina Asher-Smith's chances of Olympic glory could be hampered by a year's delay to the Games, according to Iwan Thomas.

Reigning 200 metres world champion Asher-Smith was one of Britain's best prospects for gold in Japan this year.

But the 2020 Tokyo Games have been pushed back until July next year because of the coronavirus outbreak and British 400 metres record-holder Thomas believes an extra 12 months' preparation time could count against Asher-Smith.

"For some it'll be a good thing," said Thomas, a member of the British men's team that won 4x400m silver at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

"I felt for Dina Asher-Smith who is mentally and physically at the top of her game.