America’s athletes want to abolish protest rule 50 at the Olympics

DThe number of votes calling for rule 50 of the Olympic Charter to be abolished is increasing. On Saturday, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee athlete advisory board published a letter to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) calling for the immediate abolition of the rule that prohibits athletes from protesting politically in the arena . Instead, a new strategy should be developed to protect athletes’ freedom of expression at the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The letter was written with John Carlos, who won the bronze medal in the 200-meter sprint in Mexico City in 1968 and then protested together with Olympic champion Tommie Smith. Both held up a gloved fist out of solidarity with the civil rights movement and against the disadvantage of the African-American population in the United States and were subsequently excluded from the American Olympic team.

“Athletes can no longer be silenced,” the letter said. “We are at a crossroads. The IOC and IPC can no longer pursue the strategy of punishing or excluding athletes who speak up for what they stand for, especially if these beliefs are an expression of the goals of Olympism. “The officials of the sports associations” must do the responsible job of transparent cooperation with athletes and groups of athletes (including independent athlete groups) ”to reshape the“ future of athlete voices at the Olympic and Paralympic Games ”.

The managing director of Athletenvertretung Athleten Deutschland, Johannes Herber, had asked similarly in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Herber had said he was “skeptical” about the openness and transparency of the process of possibly redesigning Rule 50, which IOC President Thomas Bach had previously proposed to the IOC Athletes’ Commission.