The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has acknowledged receiving an open letter calling for amendments to the IOC rule that threatens to punish athletes for protesting or demonstrating on medal podiums at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The IOC issued a statement saying they are standing by the organization’s recent amendment which loosened previous guidelines to allow some forms of protest expression – but not on medal podiums, ceremonies and during play.
Their full statement reads:
“The IOC acknowledges receipt of the letter. After a global consultation, involving 3500 athletes from 185 NOCs, the IOC Athletes’ Commission (IOC AC) has put forward a set of recommendations in regard to Rule 50.2 of the Olympic Charter and Athlete Expression at the Olympic Games. Rule 50.2 provides a framework to protect the neutrality of sport and the Olympic Games. While asking for more opportunities for athlete expression during the Olympic Games, global athlete representatives expressed their support for keeping the podium, the field of play and the ceremonies free from any form of protest. The IOC Executive Board (IOC EB) accepted all the recommendations. The details about the process and the results can be found here. As part of the implementation of the IOC AC’s recommendations, the EB then has approved revised Rule 50.2 Guidelines for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 which extend the opportunities for athlete expression in Tokyo.”
Some background: US hammer thrower Gwen Berry, along with famed 1968 medalists Tommie Smith and John Carlos, are three of over 150 athletes, human rights and social justice experts, and sports organizations who cosigned an open letter to high-ranking International Olympic Committee members on Thursday, calling for amendments to the IOC rule that threatens to punish athletes for protesting or demonstrating on medal podiums at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The letter calls upon the IOC to, “refrain from imposing sanctions on athletes protesting and demonstrating in accordance with internationally-recognized human rights frameworks… in any Olympic/Paralympic sites, venues or other areas – including the podium” for the Tokyo and Beijing Games.
After a 10-month consultation process with over 3,500 athletes who represent 185 different National Olympic Committees and all 41 Olympic Sports, the IOC decided to uphold the rule 50 ban on protests in April. On July 2, the IOC amended rule 50 by adding section 50.2, which loosened previous guidelines, allowing athletes to express their views in mixed zones, press conferences, during interviews, as well as prior to the start of competition.
You can read more about this here.