Paris Olympians use Games to highlight conflicts at home
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Kimia Yousofi (L) of Afghanistan on Aug. 2 at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games and gold medalist Yaroslava Mahuchikh (R) of Ukraine on Aug. 4. Photo: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile via Getty Images (L), Patrick Smith/Getty Images (R)
Some Paris Olympics athletes are utilizing the world stage to shed light on conflicts in their home countries.
The big picture: While the International Olympic Committee typically steers clear of geopolitics, they have imposed some restrictions regarding world affairs, including a ban on athletes from Russia and Belarus competing under their nation's flags due to Moscow's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
- "We can only do what we can do. We're a sports organization," IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said at a news conference following Israel's assassination of a Hamas leader in Iran. "Our job is to let the politicians, unfortunately, get on with what they want to get on with."
Zoom in: Many athletes have used their sport, and the Olympic arena, as a platform to bring awareness of what is happening at home. Here's a look at a few.
Afghanistan
- Afghan sprinter Kimia Yousofi finished in last place in her Olympic 100-meter heat but made headlines for shedding light on the lack of women's rights under the Taliban, including in education and sports.
- Her bib at the Olympic competition had words like "Education" and "Our Rights" written on it.
- "I think I feel a responsibility for Afghan girls because they can't talk," Yousofi said after the race Friday, per AP.
- "I'm not a politics person, I just do what I think is true," she said. "I can talk with media. I can be the voice of Afghan girls. I (can) tell (people) what they want — they want basic rights, education and sports."
Ukraine
- High jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh dedicated her gold medal to Ukrainian athletes and coaches who have died since Russia invaded the country.
- "In my country, the Russians killed people and almost 500 sportsmen died in this war and they will never compete and celebrate and feel this atmosphere," Mahuchikh said, per Voice of America. "So I'm happy with the gold medal and it's really for all of them."
- Manuchikh had considered volunteering on the front lines after the war started in February 2022 but instead used her sport as her platform to bring awareness, saying the high jump "is my front line," per the Orange County Register.
Gaza
- Swimmer Valerie Tarazi, one of eight athletes representing Palestine at the Olympics as the Israel-Hamas war wages on, was a flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the games.
- "Honestly, it's the biggest honor that I can ever have," she told CNN. "Especially at a time where Palestine's going through a war and a lot of people don't want us to raise the flag. A lot of people don't want us to be here. So being able to do that, go down the Seine, honor my family and honor my country means the world."
- Tarazi, who is an American with ancestral roots in Palestine, traveled to the West Bank in July, per ABC News. She said the trip reminded her "how proud I am to be Palestinian and what an honor it is to compete with the flag on my cap."
Worth noting: The IOC formally recognized the Palestine Olympic Committee as a competing member in 1993. Under IOC rules, countries do not compete in the Olympics, but rather National Olympic Committees.
- This is how U.S. territories like Puerto Rico and Guam and the city of Hong Kong all field their own teams.
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