A letter sent Saturday was signed by six athlete representatives and protest icon John CarlosGETTY IMAGES
Members of the USOPC's Athletes' Advisory Council wrote a letter to the IOC arguing that the organization "should end its no-protest rule and develop a new policy with the athlete representatives that protects athletes' freedom of expression at the Olympic and Paralympic Games," according to Rachel Bachman of the the WALL STREET JOURNAL. The letter sent out Saturday was "signed by six athlete representatives" and John Carlos, who with fellow U.S. runner Tommie Smith "raised black-gloved fists on the medal stand at the 1968 Olympics to protest racial inequities." The IOC earlier this month "formed an athletes' commission to re-examine the protest rule." It has said in earlier guidance about the rule that "sport is neutral and must be separate from political, religious or any other type of interference." The Athletes' Advisory Council is the "official athlete-representative body within the USOPC, and includes representatives" from each sport's NGB. The Council has "flexed its muscle in recent years, calling for change in the wake of sexual-abuse scandals that roiled U.S. Olympic sports and criticizing the IOC for its handling of the status of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics during the coronavirus pandemic" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 6/28).
INHERITING THE MOVEMENT: In DC, Adam Kilgore noted the debate over the merits of Rule 50 was "reignited at the Pan American Games last year when hammer thrower Gwen Berry raised her fist during the national anthem and fencer Race Imboden knelt on the medal stand." The USOPC placed both on one year of probation "while citing Rule 50." USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland this month "signaled a shift ... in how the governing body will support athletes' protests." Hirshland on June 8 sent a letter to U.S. athletes announcing the "formation of 'an athlete-led group to challenge the rules and systems in our own organization that create barriers to progress, including your right to protest." That letter came after athletes "expressed frustration after finding the USOPC's initial response to [George] Floyd's death lacking" (WASHINGTON POST, 6/28).
