"We have never said to athletes they are not allowed to give their point of view," IOC spokesperson Emmanuelle Moreau said. "One of our basic principles is freedom of speech. What we do not want is proactive political statements to be made during the Games at Olympic venues."
Cheek is upset about free speech restrictions the Belgian Olympic Committee has placed on athletes and about Britain's attempt to quash all discussion of sensitive issues by its athletes, even if the Brits immediately abandoned that idea after it hit the media.
"It wouldn't make me comfortable about saying what I wanted to say if a reporter asked me about it," Cheek said. "I don't think 100 athletes are going to stand up one after the other and address these issues, but the few that might should have their right to do it protected. I am blown away that this has become an issue in countries that have the same beliefs we do about freedom of speech and religion."
Swimmer Michelle Engelsman, 28, a Team Darfur member who hopes to make a second straight Australian Olympic team, expressed similar dismay about attempts to stifle athletes. Asked via e-mail what she would say should a reporter in Beijing seek her opinion about China's role in Darfur and general attitude toward human rights, Engelsman replied:
"I am against the support of genocide on any level, whether directly or indirectly. Furthermore, those supporting such an atrocity need to be held accountable. I also believe that human rights are not something we have to earn, but rather something that should exist without question."
Another Team Darfur member, 2008 U.S. Olympian Jarrod Shoemaker, 25, plans to discuss only sports in Beijing, where he will compete in triathlon. "Before or after the Olympics, I will talk about the issues and how we best as a world can address these situations," Shoemaker said in an e-mail.
Cheek was bemused by the line Belgium has drawn, saying its athletes could not speak out in "Olympic areas" but were free to do so elsewhere. Belgian Olympic Committee secretary general Guido de Bondt defended that distinction by saying, "China is a large country."
Said Cheek: "We don't have much of a chance to go anywhere else but Olympic areas during the Games."
Cheek understands that U.S. athletes could get blowback for criticizing China on human rights but does not think that should prevent them from speaking out. "We do have major problems in America," he said, "but raising concerns about other places does not mean you are forgetting that."
