The International Olympic Committee (IOC) met today to discuss several important topics as the 2020 Olympic Games are now fewer than 200 days away. One such subject broached by the group was that of protestation, either political or otherwise, during medal ceremonies and other formal events in Tokyo this summer.
Existing Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter dictates that ‘no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.’
However, at the 2019 Pan American Games, United States’ fencer Race Imboden took a knee, while hammer thrower Gwen Berry raised a fist during their medal ceremonies to highlight what they feel are ‘social issues’ in the U.S. This was after Australia’s Mack Horton refused to share a podium with Chinese gold medalist Sun Yang, while Scotland’s Duncan Scott abstained from shaking hands and taking photographs with the polarizing superstar at the 2019 FINA World Aquatic Championships.
In October of last year, Kirsty Coventry, Olympic swimming medalist-turned IOC Athletes Commission leader-and Zimbabwean Sports Minister, said that the commission “agreed it [protests] should not be on the field of play or during medal ceremonies.”
She also stated the group was “working together to put some guidelines together around the rules to express very clearly to athletes where we need to represent and keep certain areas and medal ceremonies free from protests.”
Enter the 3-page, IOC-endorsed ‘Rule 50 Guidelines’ released today, January 9th, meant to ‘further inform and educate athletes’.
Per the guidelines, the following types of protests are examples (among an exhaustive list) of those prohibited at an Olympic Games:
- Displaying any political messaging, including signs or armbands
- Gestures of a political nature, like a hand gesture or kneeling
- Refusal to follow the Ceremonies protocol
Additionally, protests of any kind are not allowed at all Olympic venues, including:
- On the field of play
- In the Olympic Village
- During Olympic medal ceremonies
- During the Opening, Closing and other official Ceremonies
- Any protest or demonstration outside Olympic venues must obviously comply with local legislation wherever
local law forbids such actions
Rule 50 guidelines also clarify that, while respecting local laws, athletes have the opportunity to express their opinions, including during press conferences, at team meetings and via digital or traditional media.
If these guidelines are violated during the Olympic Games, the incident will be evaluated by the respective National Olympic Committee, International Federation and the IOC, and disciplinary action will be taken on a case-by-case basis as necessary.
The IOC Athletes Commission statement on these guidelines reads, “As athletes, we are passionate about our sports and achieving our sporting performance goals. For each and every
one of us, that passion continues into everyday life, where we advocate for change on issues of great importance to us and our world. That desire to drive change can naturally make it very tempting to use the platform of an appearance at the Olympic Games to make our point.”
Coventry, in particular, stated, “We needed clarity and they wanted clarity about the rules. The majority of athletes believe that it is very important that we respect each other as athletes.”
I’m with Abby Wambach when she said just the other day after hearing this news “You will not silence us”. If you have a problem with it, dont watch it and find a time machine to go back to the 1800s before basic human rights were a thing.
APPROVE!
About time
So is wearing your countries flag considered political? Or a political symbol? Or would not wearing your countries flag be a political statement? Would a guy wearing 1 earring in their right ear be a political statement? (that’s still a thing right?) or what about tattoos?? How will those be treated if they are “political”? If the USWNT after winning gold in soccer has a few members go and kiss their significant other in the crowd or even on the team, is that considered a political statement? This whole thing is just stupid…. who cares what the athletes say or do? Let them speak their minds and stand up for their causes. Hell, the NFL lets players wear special cleats… Read more »
2 Cents – remember that this doesn’t say you “can’t be political” or “wear political symbols,” it says that you can’t protest. The flags on the athletes’ uniforms, at least as designed, are not really acts of protest. Nor would the earring in the ear. Politics aren’t outlawed on podiums, political protests are.
Well I am excited for this. Keep an eye out for small gestures that might go unnoticed. A bunch come to mind, finger waggle, Conderelli switching his finger placement, etc. I think a lot more of this will pop up in Tokyo. You bet your a** that horton and others will figure ways out to “bend” the rules so they can still protest. Like with all politics. You heard it here first.
If it were me or my kid (which it is not), I would not choose to make this be a venue for opposition – political or otherwise. But that is a personal choice and should be a personal choice. This is crap and the athletes should be able to express their opinions as long as it is respectful.
Would Lilly King’s finger waggle from Rio be considered a political hand gesture? It represented her stance on doping generally and Efimova specifically and was criticized at the time, but being anti-doping isn’t necessarily a controversial opinion in sport
It’s unclear, but that’s a good question. They’re definitely primarily focused on “bigger than sport” political statements. And the Sun/Scott/Horton thing is on notice, but maybe not defined under this category of protest.
There has to be a certain allowance for…shall we say…trash talk? I guess that’s what that would fall under. While not something we get a lot of in swimming, in some sports, a finger wag is a TAME gesture. So, if we look at things on a case-by-case basis, I as a governing body would view the finger wag as falling more under “trash talk” than “political statement,” because it’s more like “Yulia I’m not going to let you win, and the reason I’m not going to… Read more »
I feel like all of this is open to interpretation and some athletes would face harsher punishments than others simply by being more liked. Because it’s not worded very well by any means.
good and interesting point…King was responding to a gesture from one swimmer Efimova raising a finger after her own swim. While Lily was vocal about her position on the doping situation related to Russian swimmers, I feel like we will never truly know what she was thinking when she finger wag in the ready room. Once the image become public and commentary were added in media, it has a life of its own and the people involve got sweep into the narrative and the story keep growing.
Phelps has an very emotional display of his feeling after his 100m fly at the 2009 World. The story of the time were all about the suits so that was the story we… Read more »
Lily . Lily entered the Olympic village & undertook to adhere to behavioural standards . Athletes must leave their & their country’s opinions & political , religious , social norms outside . It is only 2 weeks & they can burst out with their wisdoms in a different place & time
In an international arena Gestures can be misinterpreted , offensive , just off the scale of comprehension . In parts of the world including most of the west , kneeling is the utmost gesture of humility & respect . Im not up on them all but curtseying ( for women ) bowing ( for men ) but the full kneel is the biggie . Yet in the US… Read more »
@Braden Keith I remember back in the mid-1990s when Amy Van Dyken was notorious for her “sportsmanship,” for example, being at the blocks right before the start and getting a big mouthful of water and then demonstrably spitting it into the lane next to her (usually her main competitor). Is that the equivalent of “trash talk”? How would the IOC/FINA suits deal with that?
I suppose it is, though spitting seems to be a step further. It wasn’t any kind of a ‘protest’ though, so that probably falls under some other rules regarding conduct.
Unethical.
“Shut up and give us money” – The IOC, probably