The move comes after the Committee answered calls from athletes not to enforce its controversial Rule 50, which prohibits protests at the Olympics.
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) announced which “racial and social” demonstrations will and won’t be permitted at the trials for the Tokyo Olympics this summer. With insight from the USOPC’s new Council on Racial and Social Justice, the Committee released a nine-page document detailing do’s and don’ts of permitted demonstration. Holding up a fist, kneeling during the national anthem and wearing phrases such as ” Black Lives Matter ” or “equality” are allowed, but hate symbols or actions that would prohibit another athlete from competing are barred. The move comes after the committee answered calls from athletes not to enforce its controversial Rule 50, which prohibits protests at the Olympics, and is a preview into the policy the U.S. team plans to keep when it travels to Tokyo in a few months. For more reporting from The Associated Press, see below. Many U.S. athletes have spearheaded the call for more freedom in using their platform at the Olympics to advance social justice causes.
