New Rules on Olympics Protests Already Causing Discord

The International Olympic Committee has loosened its rules on political speech at the Games. Olympic leaders in the United States and plenty of athletes say the changes don’t go far enough.

The American hammer throw athlete Gwen Berry, a contender for a medal at the Summer Olympics, has already raised her fist on a medal podium at a competition, and at the selection meet for the U.S. Olympic track team she turned away as the national anthem was played, drawing worldwide attention and debate. U.S. Olympic officials, bowing to a surge of athlete activism, are fine with that. The International Olympic Committee, however, is not. With the July 23 opening of the Tokyo Games nearing, American and international Olympic officials are disputing where to draw the line for protests as athletes across the sports world, however contentious the issue has become, leverage their power and influence to promote social and political causes.