Win Htet Oo announced his intention to skip Tokyo 2020 in protest at the military coup in Myanmar.

Tokyo 2020 would have been his first Olympic Games.

Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi and members of her National League for Democracy party were overthrown in February in the coup and have been detained by the military.

The coup followed a landslide victory for Suu Kyi’s party at the general election in February, with the military having backed the opposition and alleged widespread fraud.

Military commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing has taken power, with the armed forces having been internationally condemned for violence against protestors.

In excess of 800 people have reportedly been killed by the military since the coup began, while hundreds of others have been arrested.

When announcing his withdrawal from Tokyo 2020, Win Htet Oo highlighted the case of 19-year-old taekwondo athlete Ma Kyal Sin, who was shot and killed in protests in the city of Mandalay.

The swimmer has now launched a petition calling for the IOC to act.

"The State Administration Council Myanmar Ministry of Health and Sport proudly displays the Olympic Rings in its logo as it quietly supports the campaign of terror", he wrote in the petition.

"The Myanmar Olympic Committee has refused to condemn attacks on Myanmar athletes and sports professionals.

"Athletes have been subject to bomb attacks, and shootings as the MOC continues to tolerate violence against dissident sportspersons.

"I ask Thomas Bach OLY and the International Olympic Committee how they can continue to tolerate the MOC’s breach of the Olympic Charter and the Fundamental Principles of Olympism.

"What more egregious crime is necessary to show the MOC's absolute failure to protect the cause of sport in Myanmar?

"This petition is for everyone around the world who cares about keeping the Olympic Games free of the miasma of genocide.

"We cannot invite the MOC to the highest level of human sporting achievement when the MOC has ingratiated itself with Genocidaires.”

Win Htet Oo told Japan’s Nikkei newspaper that he considered protesting at the Olympics using a three-finger salute, which is associated with protests in the country.

He said this would have gained attention, but was concerned the Myanmar Olympic Committee would have used him "as a propaganda tool".