“This is a spineless attempt to appear as the nice guy to both sides.”
The decision also received widespread criticism from other anti-doping bodies, with the USADA chief Travis Tygart and Australian sports minister Sussan Ley voicing their discontent.
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) banned Russian athletes from the Rio Games in November and Rutherford praised the sport’s governing body’s stance.
“I have to say I am proud of my own sport and its new leadership, for the proactive and strong stance taken a few weeks ago. Athletics set the right sentiment for a clean and believable sport,” the 29-year-old said.
“… Without a consequence for institutional-level actions how on earth do we expect to make any progress?”
Rutherford also urged other high-profile athletes to follow suit and voice their opinion over the IOC’s decision.
“I also feel a little surprised that more athletes are not more vocal about this, especially those with a powerful voice in Olympic sport,” he said.
(Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru- Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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