China’s human rights record made Winter Olympics ‘irresponsible’, says Swedish athlete

[aziqbal]

China’s human rights record made Winter Olympics ‘irresponsible’, says Swedish athlete​

Gold medallist Nils van der Poel criticises Chinese regime and decision to hold games in Beijing

Van der Poel told Sportbladet he had ‘a very nice experience behind the scenes’, but that the decision to give Beijing the Games was ‘terrible’. Photograph: Matsuo K/AFLO/REX/Shutterstock




A Swedish gold medallist has said it was “extremely irresponsible” to hold the Winter Olympics in China because of the government’s human rights record.

Nils van der Poel, a 25-year-old speedskater, made the comments after returning home from the Beijing event, where officials have been at pains to keep politics and protest out despite diplomatic boycotts.

Van der Poel told Sportbladet he had “a very nice experience behind the scenes”, but that the decision to give Beijing the Games was “terrible”.

“The Olympic Village was very nice, the Chinese people I met were absolutely amazing,” he said. “The Olympics is a lot, it’s a fantastic sporting event where you unite the world and nations meet. But so did Hitler before invading Poland, and so did Russia before invading Ukraine.

“I think it is extremely irresponsible to give it to a country that violates human rights as blatantly as the Chinese regime is doing.”

Governments including the US have accused China’s government of conducting a genocide in Xinjiang, through its long campaign of forced assimilation against ethnic minorities, including Muslim Uyghurs. An estimated 1 million people have been detained in mass detention and re-education centres, and the general population has been subjected to acts of religious and cultural suppression, alleged forced labour, and enforced birth control.

Several human rights and legal groups have said the actions amount to crimes against humanity. Beijing denies all accusations of human rights abuses, and says its policies are part of anti-terrorism efforts and poverty alleviation programmes.

Rights groups had called for widespread boycotts of the Winter Olympics by governments and sponsors. Several nations including the US, UK and Australia staged a diplomatic boycott of the event, while there has been significant focus on athletes’ ability to protest.

Human rights advocates had warned athletes about conducting any activism, including making statements, while in Beijing for the Games. The US Nordic skier and former Olympian Noah Hoffman said athletes had a powerful platform, but advised them to stay silent in Beijing. He said: “They can speak out when they get back.”

Acts of protest at the Games are generally against the rules set by the International Olympic Committee, which also warned athletes not to protest at the Tokyo summer Games, or face potential punishment.

However, there are mounting concerns over the increasing intolerance of protest, dissent or criticism in or against China. Prior to it starting, a Beijing official warned any athlete behaviour that is against the Olympic spirit or Chinese rules or laws would be subject to “certain punishment”.

China’s government and Olympic officials have insisted the Games should be free from politics, but when asked at a press conference on Tuesday about human rights issues, committee spokesperson Yan Jiarong dismissed human rights violations among the Uyghur Muslim population as “lies” and insisted Taiwan was part of China.


This article was amended on 18 February 2022. Nils van der Poel is Swedish, not Swiss as an earlier version said.

China’s human rights record made Winter Olympics ‘irresponsible’, says Swedish athlete

Gold medallist Nils van der Poel criticises Chinese regime and decision to hold games in Beijing

www.theguardian.com

 

[beijingwalker]

LoL, UK still has the shame to talk about winter olympics, it is now in the same leaguge of India Sick man in Europe

Winter Olympics 2022: Team GB medal count still at zero but ‘happiness is sometimes better’​

The British team have yet to pick up any silverware at the Games and their target of as many as seven looks far-fetched, even fanciful​

February 12, 2022 12:07 pm

BEIJING – For the second time this week, Charlotte Bankes found herself standing in the snow trying to sum up the disappointment of defeat.

It is not something the world No 1 is used to doing very often, having dominated the World Cup circuit in the run-up to the Games and claiming favourite status for the women’s snowboard cross, only to crash out in the quarter-finals.

She was not quite expected to provide a medal in the mixed relay event, making its Games debut, with 20-year-old Huw Nightingale her team-mate with just a couple of months of World Cup experience under his belt.

The freshest exclusives and sharpes​

In that context, their sixth-place finish was more than respectable and it is a sign of how disappointing Team GB’s Games have been that it is the second-best result so far after Kirsty Muir’s fifth in the Big Air event.

Most observers had expected Great Britain to have collected at least two medals by now – Bankes and then the mixed doubles curling – but instead they find themselves checking the record books for the last time Team GB failed to bring one home with them (Albertville 1992, lifetime ago in terms of British winter sports).

The athletes are putting a brave face on things. Nightingale, all six feet of him and more, was determined to make his team-mate laugh in their post-race interview, insisting she never falls at all and delighting in his achievement of a sixth place at a first Olympic Games.

He said: “Sometimes the game isn’t always about medals, and so long as we’re one team and we stay confident as a team and happy…


“Happiness is sometimes better than medals in my eyes […] but medals are always a bonus.”

He insisted there was something to celebrate too, giddy with the thin mountain air and rarefied atmosphere of an Olympic Games; Nightingale will almost certainly be there again at Milano Cortina 2026, perhaps with Bankes seeking redemption. They will expect much more than sixth place if both are fit and firing.

Not everyone is as optimistic as Nightingale. Cross-country skiers Andrew Musgrave and Andrew Young finished 46th and 51st in the 15km classic. “I can’t really understand what went on today,” Musgrave said. Young, who was late arriving in Beijing because he caught Covid, said he was “trying to be positive” rather than dig himself in a hole and be “grumpy”.

Grumpy would be a good way to sum up the skeleton sliders too. Matt Weston and Marcus Wyatt were 15th and 16th in the men’s singles, and tried not to blame their equipment – but did question whether the set-up they were using was right. Their female counterparts, who were both a second off the pace after just one run and went further backwards after that, made similar comments.

Every athlete is different, as are their goals and their reactions. But at home the public are interested in, for the most part, just one thing: medals. And so far, the 50 athletes in the British team have not delivered any.

“Medals are always a bonus.” At this point, they are more than just a bonus.

‘Happiness is sometimes better than medals’ - Team GB still without Olympic silverware

The British team have yet to pick up any silverware at the Games and their target of as many as seven looks far-fetched, even fanciful

inews.co.uk

 

[Apollon]

But why the Swedish athlete still went to the winter Olympic in Beijing? Another BS , western propaganda news. Fake news.

When you are an athlete you sometimes cant chose. Im athlete myself. I say i would not compete in autocratic regimes. Or if i do, i would try to not help propaganda there. For example i would definitly not participate in some propaganda parades or waving flags, smile with dictator and so on

 

[Beast]

When you are an athlete you sometimes cant chose. Im athlete myself. I say i would not compete in autocratic regimes. Or if i do, i would try to not help propaganda there. For example i would definitly not participate in some propaganda parades or waving flags, smile with dictator and so on

Why can't choose? U just say, u are not coming. Maybe fame and glory are more important than artificial self righteous? I am sure his statement about China will win more sponsor from some ultra right wing or neo con support.

 

[Apollon]

Why can't choose? U just say, u are not coming. Maybe fame and glory are more important than artificial self righteous? I am sure his statement about China will win more sponsor from some ultra right wing or neo con support.

I train hard and sport is my life. I cant chose were the competition is held.

So evry athlete must make a decission. Dont go there or go and if you go, how to not be instrumentalized ect.

 

[beijingwalker]

Im athlete myself.

You are nobody but a liar, what you say has zero credibility.

 

[Apollon]

You are nobody but a liar, what you say has zero credibility.

I would appreciate if you stop insulting me buddy.

I do compete in BB and sport is my life.

I dont appreciate your personal attacks against me and would prefer if you find a more friendly way to talk to me.

 

[Beast]

Thanks to Eileen Gu. The gold medal tally shall be USA 10 gold and China 7 gold but....

I am really worry about Eileen when she returns to US. I have heard rumour stanford is going to reject her application.

 

[Apollon]

Thanks to Eileen Gu. The gold medal tally shall be USA 10 gold and China 7 gold but....

I am really worry about Eileen when she returns to US. I have heard runour stanford is going to reject her application.

I dont think its good for her. She basicly wont be able to live in USA. Loses friends and family and sponsoring there.

 

[beijingwalker]

I would appreciate if you stop insulting me buddy.

I do compete in BB and sport is my life.

I dont appreciate your personal attacks against me and would prefer if you find a more friendly way to talk to me.

Cause you've been caught lying several times already red handed not just by me , but by several PDFers here, and you just carry on lying. Do you admit this fact or not?

 

[Beast]

I dont think its good for her. She basicly wont be able to live in USA. Loses friends and family and sponsoring there.

Don't worry for her, she has won friends and sponsor from China.

USA is temporary, China is her future.

 

[Apollon]

Cause you've been caught lying several times already red handed not just by me , but by several PDFers here, and you just carry on lying. Do you admit this fact or not?

I mistook two dudes and made a mistake.

 

[beijingwalker]

I mistook two dudes and made a mistake.

How about claiming EU the biggest economy in the world and no one cares about winter olympics but being debunked by European PDFer red handedly?

 

[Apollon]

How about claiming EU the biggest economy in the world and no one cares about winter olympics but being debunked by European PDFer red handedly?

The EU is one of biggest evonomies in world. China, EU and USA. Its the big three

 

[beijingwalker]

The EU is one of biggest evonomies in world. China, EU and USA. Its the big three

But you said The biggest economy, not one of the economies, see, you never admit your lies. By the way, no one cares about Beijing winter Olympics is also a lie.

"In Europe, where the events are aired on the Discovery channel, the total number of streaming viewers after only four days of competition had surpassed Pyeongchang 2018’s total viewership."​