Britain’s Gus Kenworthy, a freestyle skier who won silver at the 2014 Olympics, and US skating coach Adam Rippon have criticized awarding the 2022 Winter Games to Beijing over the rights issue of humans in China. “In my opinion, I don’t think any country should be allowed to host the Games if they have appalling human rights records,” Kenworthy told the BBC on Thursday.
A questioned attribution
“I know the Olympics are so important to China and they are always so high in the medal count, that I feel that by really taking a stand against them in a concrete way, you can probably bring about positive change. But it seems like it’s all about the money. I don’t really think it’s a suitable choice to host the Games,” the 30-year-old skier from the Beijing Olympics told British media.
Speaking from the Chinese capital, Adam Rippon told CNN he hoped the Games would bring increased scrutiny to the host country: “What I hope with these Games is that there are so many attention to these human rights issues that puts pressure on the Chinese government to really address them.”
“Because when you think about it, why should we award the Games to a country where this kind of thing happens,” added the 2018 Olympics team bronze medalist and current coach on American television.
A diplomatic boycott
Before the official opening of these Olympics on Friday, voices were raised about rights in China, in particular the fate of the Uyghur Muslim minority.
The United States and some of its allies have decided on a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Games in order to protest against what they consider to be genocide and crimes against humanity in the Xinjiang region. China has strenuously denied the charges.