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23/08/2008 / HUMAN RIGHTS
Athlete marks first protest action over Tibet
Weightlifting China

http://observers.france24.com/en/content/pologne-crane2-mjpg

The supposedly burning issue of human rights hasn't caused much of a
stir in Beijing during the Olympic Games. Yet, on the eve of Games'
close, a single athlete expressed his support for Tibet. Poland's
weightlifter Szymon Kolecki shaved his head.

CONTRIBUTORS

Team Observers

"It was a symbol"

Szymon Kolecki shaved his head last Sunday, before starting the
competition. His was a sign of solidarity with Tibet's shaven-headed
Buddhist monks. Silver-winner in the 94kg competition, he didn't say a
word on the podium.

Kolecki pointed out that he had to respect the Olympic Charter. The
document says that "no kind of demonstration or political, religious
or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic site, venue or other
area".

His gesture recalls other occurences of political protest in the
Olympic Games' history. In 1980 in Moscow, Polish pole vaulter
Wladyslaw Kozakiewicz, who had just become an Olympic champion,
displayed an obscene "bent elbow" gesture to the jeering Soviet
public. In 1968, the Olympic Games in Mexico were also marked by the
action of two black US athletes, Tommie Smith et John Carlos, on the
podium. Closing their eyes, they bowed their heads and raised their
glove-covered fists in the air in reference to the black power
movement back home.

By the way, French pole vaulter Romain Mesnil, said a few words this
week to French media: "I am amused because we are in an Olympic
village, apart from the world. We aren't in Beijing, not in China, but
in "Dreamworld 2008". It's written everywhere, even on the sewers off
the village."

Team Observers

France
Journaliste
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Comments
Polish Medalist Champions Tibetan Rights
Submitted by Unregistered user (not verified) on Tue, 26/08/2008 -
23:54.
Thank you Champ, Szymon Kolecki! The spirit of freedom is the true
mark of Olympian.