'Terrible': Donald Trump speaks against boycotting 2022 Winter Olympics

Former US President Donald Trump has spoken against the idea of boycotting the 2022 Winter Olympics in China, saying such actions hurt the athletes.

"No, because I watched Jimmy Carter do it [in 1980] and it was terrible. It was terrible. It hurts the athletes. There are much more powerful things we can do than that," Trump said in an interview with Fox News, broadcast on Sunday.

The ex-president went on to say that he would like to see the US competing and winning "every single medal," Sputnik reported.

Earlier in the month, the Joe Biden administration announced that the US would not send an official delegation to the 2022 Winter Olympics due to alleged human rights violations by China.

Several countries including Australia, Britain and Canada have also announced that they will boycott diplomatically over human rights abuses of Uyghurs Muslims by the Chinese government.

France last week said that it will not boycott in a break from other Group of Seven industrialized nations.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday expressed his willingness to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympics.