2 posts tagged “olympics”

Despite recent negativity about the upcoming Olympics, there is still alot of inspiration to hold on to.  Our athletes did not choose the locale of the Olympics, and they deserve our support.  These men and women have trained most of their lives for a chance to compete in the games.

The video is about Ryan Hall, a US man, who at the time, was training for the Olympic Trails in marathon.  Not only did he make the Olympic team, he won the race and broke a record.

Past shame: The England team give Nazi salutes at the 1938 Berlin Olympics, a memory which critics do not want to see recalled in China.

British Olympic chiefs are to force athletes to sign a contract promising not to speak out about China's appalling human rights record – or face being banned from travelling to Beijing.

Human rights campaigner Lord David Alton condemned the move as “making a mockery” of the right to free speech.

Lord Alton said: “It is extraordinary to bar athletes from expressing an opinion about China's human-rights record. About the only justification for participating in the Beijing Games is that it offers an opportunity to encourage more awareness about human rights.

“Imposing compulsory vows of silence is an affront to our athletes, and in China it will be viewed as acquiescence.

“Each year 8,000 executions take place in China, political and religious opinion is repressed, journalists are jailed and the internet and overseas broadcasts are heavily censored."

Full Story Here