Rights groups call for boycott of Beijing 2022 Winter Games
FILE - In this Aug. 13, 2020, file photo, visitors to Chongli, one of the venues for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, pass by the Olympics logo in Chongli in northern China's Hebei Province. A coalition of 180 rights group on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2020 called for a boycott of next years Beijing Winter Olympics tied to reported human rights abuses against ethnic minorities in China. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)TOKYO โ A coalition of 180 rights groups on Wednesday called for a boycott of next yearโs Beijing Winter Olympics tied to reported human rights abuses against ethnic minorities in China. Beijing hosted the 2008 Olympics, which it promised would improve human rights in the country. โAs human rights experts predicted, this decision proved to be hugely misplaced; not only did Chinaโs human rights record not improve but violations increased substantially without rebuke.
2020 sports quiz: Brady to Bundesliga, Big Ten to Brooklyn
FILE - In this Dec. 1, 2020, file photo, the Olympic Symbol is reinstalled after it was taken down for maintenance ahead of the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics, in the Odaiba section in Tokyo. Your 2020 year-end sports quiz awaits. Like much else these days, quizzes will be graded on the curve:JanuaryThe IOC sets conduct guidelines for athletes at the Tokyo Olympics. JulyThe renamed Washington Football Team might get another rebrand. ___Answers: January (b); February (a); March (b); April (a); May (c); June (b); July (c); August (a); September (a); October (b); November (b); December (c).
Olympics on tight timeline to chart new path on protest
(AP Photo/File)For generations, the IOC knew exactly where to look for key support of its ban against protests at the Olympics. โThat becomes a difficult situation,โ said Harry Edwards, the activist who helped brainstorm the gestures by Smith and Carlos 52 years ago. American athletes have been reeling from a summer of unrest over police violence against Black people in the United States. The Olympics are a behemoth that counts America as only one of 206 countries who are members. โAnd what today reflects is that this generation of athletes is more than willing to do their part.โ
Listening to athletes, USOPC won't punish Olympic protests
The decision is a response to a set of recommendations from a USOPC athlete group that seeks changes to the much-maligned Rule 50 of the IOC Olympic Charter, which prohibits inside-the-lines protests at the games. IOC athletes chair Kirsty Coventry said many of those who have provided feedback to her commission "have also recognized the practical question of how to choose between the opinions of hundreds of issues from different angles across the world." The USOPC established a handful of working groups led by athletes who tackled different aspects of social injustice in the Olympic movement and society in general. The USOPC says it won't discipline athletes for โrespectfulโ and โpeacefulโ demonstrations, and Hirshland said, โI can't imagine that kneeling or raising a fist would be considered" inappropriate. The IOC has sent a survey to athletes across the globe for their opinions on Rule 50 and other issues.
Bach and Mori give pep talk to heads of Olympic delegations
TOKYO โ IOC President Thomas Bach and Yoshiro Mori, the head of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee, gave an online pep talk Monday to national Olympic committee representatives to allay fears about the postponed games. About 200 national Olympic committees are expected to be represented next year in Tokyo. Organizers held an English-speaking session on Monday for chefs de mission, with French and Spanish sessions scheduled for later in the week. These sessions have been typically held in the host city and were held in Tokyo before the Olympics were postponed. Bach again called Tokyo โthe best prepared Olympic city.โMori, a former Japanese prime minister, said he was aware of the โanxietyโ the postponement had created.
Organizers, IOC trying to remove doubts over Tokyo Olympics
TOKYO The International Olympic Committee and Japanese organizers are trying to convince the public that the postponed Tokyo Olympics will take place next year despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Tokyo organizing committee CEO T oshiro Muto said last week that the games could go ahead without a vaccine. This week John Coates, the IOC member who oversees the Tokyo Olympics, said the games would happen despite the pandemic. City, government, and Tokyo Olympic officials gathered last week in the first of a string of meetings to plan for countermeasures against COVID-19. The University of Oxford is releasing a study this week that shows the Tokyo Olympics are the most expensive in history, examining records since 1960.
Track group calls for change of Olympic protest rule
The IOC earlier this year reiterated its support of the rule that restricts protests inside the lines at the games. But in the aftermath of protests that stemmed from George Floyd's killing in May, the committee said it would consider measures that would allow athletes to make stronger protests. Among the board members signing off on the statement are Allyson Felix, Christian Taylor, Emma Coburn, Shaunae Miller-Uibo and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. Berry was an outspoken critic of the USOPC earlier this year when it made public shows of solidarity with Black athletes, suggesting the USOPC never reached out to her on the issue. The USOPC has formed an athletes' group to look into ways to combat racism, which could include calling for changes in the rule known as Rule 50.
Tokyo Olympic venues lined up, schedule remains the same
TOKYO The 42 venues for next years delayed Tokyo Olympics have been secured and the competition schedule will remain almost identical to the one that would have been used this year. The Athletes Village and the main press center have also been lined up for 2021. That was the message delivered Friday to IOC members by Tokyo organizing committee President Yoshiro Mori and CEO Toshiro Muto. However, women's softball and soccer will open on July 21, men's soccer on July 22, and archery and rowing on July 23. IOC President Thomas Bach said earlier this week that multiple scenarios are being thought about to pull off the Olympics next year.