Throwdown: Kathryn Mitchell says some things are bigger than sport and the Olympics should be postponed. Credit:Getty

Olympics bosses face a global uprising from sporting federations and individual athletes to call off the Tokyo Games after the influential USA Track and Field body and an Australian Commonwealth Games gold medallist made heartfelt pleas to put the welfare of athletes first.

Kathryn Mitchell, who won gold in javelin at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, said there were compelling logistical and humanitarian reasons to postpone the Games, which are scheduled to start in Tokyo on July 24, despite the fact that athletes like her had trained "their whole lives" for the Olympics.

Australian basketball star Andrew Bogut had already indicated he would not go to the Olympics in the current circumstances.

Australian Swimming, US Swimming and US Track and Field, along with sporting federations in Brazil and Norway, have raised concerns about athlete health and a level playing field, putting Olympics chiefs under huge pressure to postpone the Games.