International Olympic Committee is coming under pressure over the alleged torture and arrest of Iranian athletes

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By Don Riddell, CNN

Updated 0816 GMT (1616 HKT) July 1, 2021

(CNN)Athletes are trained to be tough; they've learned to push through the pain barrier and find courage when all hope might seem to be lost.

But athletes in Iran have to be braver than most. For them, the battle isn't just on the field of play, it's also away from the arenas, where the consequences of their actions could be painful, even deadly.«I am 100% fearful,» judoka Vahid Sarlak tells CNN Sport. He knows fighting for his beliefs could end badly in a country where political activists and their families are routinely intimidated, arrested and can even be executed. «Every day, my mom asks me not to do this, she is worried daily. But I say, 'I was