{"id":437702,"date":"2020-06-28T03:08:25","date_gmt":"2020-06-28T10:08:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=437702"},"modified":"2024-10-28T11:29:29","modified_gmt":"2024-10-28T18:29:29","slug":"australia-reps-listen-to-fellow-athletes-ahead-of-olympic-rule-50-word-to-ioc-says-cate-campbell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/australia-reps-listen-to-fellow-athletes-ahead-of-olympic-rule-50-word-to-ioc-says-cate-campbell\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia Reps Listen To Fellow Athletes Ahead Of Olympic Rule 50 Word To IOC, Says Cate Campbell"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australian athletes<\/strong> will take their views on Olympic Rule 50<\/strong> and the right of peaceful protest to the International Olympic Committee (IOC)<\/strong> after a period of “listening” and consultation over “a complex issue with passionate arguments on both sides”, swim sprint ace Cate Campbell<\/strong> <\/a>has told Swimming World<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In the wake of the brutal death of George Floyd<\/strong><\/a> and widespread global protests that followed, athletes have vented their frustration over\u00a0the IOC’s reminder to them that Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter<\/strong><\/a>, covering “Advertising, demonstrations, propaganda”, will be enforced at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games shunted to 2021 by the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

The issues spill well beyond racial discrimination, doping, Fair Play (as we note below with a reminder of recent events in swimming), the right to a fair share of vast revenues following from the business of the Olympics, image rights and freedom of speech among matters being raised by athlete representatives.<\/p>\n

The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) is conscious of the concerns of Australian athletes but wants those to be directed to the IOC Athletes Commission via the Australia Athletes Commission (AOC AC), which is chaired by pole vault champion Steve Hooker<\/strong> and includes Cate Campbell among its members.<\/p>\n

A statement from the AOC noted: “AOC president John Coates has invited the AOC Athletes Commission to consider submitting any thoughts they may have direct to the IOC Athletes Commission chair, Kirsty Coventry.”<\/p>\n

Approached by Swimming World<\/em>, Campbell confirmed: \u201cWe have met as an AOC Athlete\u2019s Commission, to discuss the process of sending feedback to the IOC.” Her explanation and use of the word ‘listen’ has deeper meaning to one of the most important issues on the minds of athletes: discrimination.<\/p>\n

Aboriginal people practice deep listening<\/a>, described as “an almost spiritual skill, based on respect. Sometimes called ‘dadirri’, deep listening is inner, quiet, still awareness, and waiting.” The waiting bit is something athletes believe sports governors to be good at, the listening less so. Campbell explained what Australian athletes would do next:
\n<\/small><\/p>\n

\u201cFirstly, it is our job to listen.\u00a0To listen to athlete\u2019s views and the views of indigenous Australian athletes.\u00a0The AOC has convened an Indigenous Advisory Committee and they have met a few times already.\u00a0The AOC AC is in the process of asking Australian athletes for their opinions and what they would like to see change.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Campbell cited the delay in the Olympics as providing an opportunity to take the time to listen, hear, collate and come to a view on Rule 50 and related issues. She noted:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a complex issue \u2013 with passionate arguments on both sides.\u00a0But for the moment, our job as an Athlete\u2019s Commission, is to listen to, collect and then deliver the voices of Australian athletes to the IOC.\u00a0In many ways, we are lucky the Games are still over 12 months away, because it gives us time to find the right balance to this divisive issue.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Campbell spoke to Swimming World<\/em> as a\u00a0group of American athletes, led by 1968 Olympian John Carlos,<\/strong>\u00a0published a letter to the IOC and the International Paralympic Committee urging the abolition of IOC Charter Rule 50<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"jeffwiltsecontesetdwaterscover\"

Contested Waters by Jeff Wiltse<\/p><\/div>\n

Further reading related to Rule 50:<\/em><\/h3>\n
    \n
  • Anthony Ervin on Olympic Rule 50: \u2018That\u2019s Not Going to Fly\u2019<\/a><\/li>\n
  • German Athletes Welcome Bach Readiness To Relax Rule 50 & Allow Peaceful Protest<\/a><\/li>\n
  • The History Of Racial Discrimination In Contested Waters As A Snapshot Of Prevailing Sorrow<\/a><\/li>\n
  • How The Story Of Jesse Owens & Luz Long Shines Yet As A Beacon Of Hope For An End To Discrimination<\/a><\/li>\n
  • Ed Accura\u2019s \u2018A Film Called Blacks Can\u2019t Swim \u2013 My Journey, My Story\u2019 Out Today<\/a><\/li>\n
  • Favourite Pools: Alg\u00e9s e Dafundo Where The Water & Walls Sing A Universal Song Of Swimming<\/a><\/li>\n
  • Global Athlete Calls on IOC to \u2018Immediately Abolish\u2019 Olympic Ban on Kneeling<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  • What Athletes Want \u2013 Global Athlete Survey Calls For Revolution At IOC & Feds<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    The IOC lags other governors of big-business sport on the issue of athlete rights. The Olympic body says that it is open to making concessions after being lobbied by its own Athletes Commission, headed by 2004 and 2008 Olympic 200m backstroke champion Kirsty Coventry, of Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n

    Athletes now want the IOC to go much further and end the days when governors can and do engage in politics at all levels but forbid athletes from speaking their minds at the very moment when they have the biggest platform on which to have their views heard on issues that have a direct affect on them as athletes in the realm of world-class sport.<\/p>\n

    In Australia, where the first line of the\u00a0\u201cAdvance Australia Fair\u201d national anthem is \u201cAustralians all let us rejoice, For we are young and free\u201d has been cited by the indigenous aboriginal community as ‘untrue’, in that many of them feel unable to\u00a0rejoice because they are discriminated against and are not treated fairly.<\/p>\n

    When the Beyond Blue organization, an Australian independent non-profit dedicated to mental health support, conducted a study<\/a> of discrimination and treatment of Australian aboriginal people, age 25 to 44, it found that Australian aboriginal people are the second biggest group of people discriminated against in Australia. Top of the discrimination league: groups who don\u2019t speak English.<\/p>\n

    In sport, aboriginal athletes want their community to feel included in the anthem and have been using their platforms to get their voices heard for much longer than the Black Lives Matter movement (founded 2013) has been campaigning on similar issues.<\/p>\n

    Cody Walker, as the Indigenous All Stars rugby team captain, and Mal Meninga, Australia\u2019s national rugby team coach, have called for a change to the national anthem because it fails to represent them as Australians.<\/p>\n

    Aboriginal communities were originally excluded from the original constitution because they were considered a dying race that did not need citizenship, according to the Australian Human Rights Commission<\/a>. However,\u00a0more than 90 per cent of Australians voted in favour of changing the constitution in a 1967 referendum.<\/a><\/p>\n

    The issues are live, of course.<\/p>\n

    In sport, many of those issues are summed up brilliantly in “The Australian Dream”, a must-watch for any seeking deeper understanding of the lives of others. You can watch it here<\/a>. \u00a0The Trailer:<\/p>\n