Anti-Olympics protester crashes International Olympic Committee news conference

An anti-Olympics protester posed as a reporter and interrupted a news conference hosted by the International Olympic Committee on Wednesday.

The man, who portrayed himself as "David O'Brien from Yahoo," obtained access to the virtual news conference with IOC spokesperson Mark Adams following an executive board meeting.

When given the floor to ask a question, the man appeared on camera holding a black banner or scarf that read "No Olympics in Tokyo 2020."

"No Olympics anywhere. No Olympics anywhere," he said. "(Expletive) the Olympics. We don't want the Olympics anywhere. No Olympics in L.A., no Olympics in Tokyo."

The man's video feed was promptly cut by the IOC's media team. Adams noted that IOC president Thomas Bach, who regularly fields questions from reporters in virtual news conferences, was not on the call.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you that it was me, not the president, today," Adams said. "Obviously would have probably made that stunt a little bit more interesting. I'm used to it, so that's fine."

The disruption served as the final question of the news conference.

The IOC streamed the news conference on its YouTube page but took down the video minutes after it ended. An organization called "NOlympics LA" later indicated on social media that it was behind the stunt.

Wednesday's disruption comes amid growing consternation in Japan regarding this summer's Tokyo Olympics, which are scheduled to begin July 23.

Multiple Japanese news outlets have published polls in which the majority of respondents have indicated they would prefer that the Games be canceled or postponed due to COVID-19. And an online petition in Japan calling for the Olympics to be canceled has garnered tens of thousands of signatures.

People protest around Tokyo's National Stadium on Sunday, May 9.
People protest around Tokyo's National Stadium on Sunday, May 9.

Less than 3% of Japan's population has been vaccinated, and Tokyo has been placed under a state of emergency due to COVID-19 through the end of May. The state of emergency prompted Bach to delay his planned trip to Tokyo, which had been scheduled for later this month.

Earlier in Wednesday's news conference, Adams said the IOC and local organizers in Japan remained "fully concentrated on delivering the Games."

Contributing: USA TODAY Sports' Nancy Armour; Associated Press

Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Anti-Olympics protester crashes IOC news conference as Tokyo 2020 nears