Canadian Iñaki Gómez, a race walker who finished 12th in the 20km event at London 2012, told insidethegames the process from the IOC "serves as evidence of the lack of engagement with athletes".

The IOC removed the 50km walk from the Olympic programme and said it would be replaced with a mixed-gender event, which World Athletics has confirmed will be in race walking.

IOC sports director Kit McConnell said this would improve gender equality as the women's 50km race walk is not an Olympic discipline.

World Athletics had proposed the inclusion of the women's event but it was rejected and the men's 50km, which has been contested at every edition of the Games since Moscow 1980, was cut.

Gómez chaired the World Athletics Athletes' Commission in 2019 and 2018. 

"I am not aware that the IOC Athletes' Commission was consulted on the decision that the IOC made to replace the long race walk as they would have spoken to us at World Athletics," Gómez, silver medallist in the 20km walk at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, said. 

"Certainly the World Athletics Athletes’ Commission was not consulted. 

"On a personal level, the IOC approach on this issue serves as evidence of the lack of engagement with athletes - with decisions often being made and announced based on preliminary discussions rather than consensus or agreement."

World Athletics, which also failed with its bid to have a mixed cross country relay event included at the 2024 Games in the French capital, has to confirm the mixed-gender event by May 31 next year.

"As it stands today, World Athletics has informed the IOC that it needs time to discuss the decision with its athletes and competition commission before any alternative event can be agreed," Gómez added.

"This will begin shortly and the IOC has given World Athletics until May 2021 to find a resolution to the decision they seem to have taken unilaterally."