TOKYO: The Japanese Olympic Committee’s vice president has resigned, the organisation said on Tuesday, after he apologised for making “utterly unacceptable” remarks that reportedly included an anti-Korean slur.

Takahiro Kitano, head of Japan’s bobsleigh federation, made the comments during an investigation into the two-man bobsleigh team’s failure to qualify for this year’s Milan-Cortina Winter Games.

Kitano said in a statement that there were “instances where I failed to maintain my composure” during the internal probe.

The Japanese-language online edition of HuffPost reported that Kitano had used an anti-Korean slur.

“The use of such language is utterly unacceptable for someone entrusted with the management of a public sports organisation and I deeply regret my own lack of judgement,” he wrote.

Later on Tuesday, the Japanese Olympic Committee said they had “received and accepted (Kitano’s) letter of resignation submitted for personal reasons”.

Japan missed out on a place in the two-man bobsleigh competition at February’s Milan-Cortina Olympics after the federation had misunderstood the qualification requirements.

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2026