John Carlos and the group that protects the rights of U.S. Olympians and Paralympians called on the IOC to abolish the Olympic Charter’s current rule on athlete protests and other forms of expression and develop a new policy.
“Athletes will no longer be silenced,” read a letter written by six leaders of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee Athletes’ Advisory Council and Carlos, the 1968 Olympic 200m bronze medalist who raised a black-gloved first on the medal stand for human rights. “The IOC and IPC [International Paralympic Committee] cannot continue on the path of punishing or removing athletes who speak up for what they believe in, especially when those beliefs exemplify the goals of Olympism.