MILAN — As the United States enters an Olympic Games in the midst of the Trump Administration’s volatile foreign policy, leaders of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee said Thursday they emphasized in pre-Olympic meetings that they are ‘partners’ with sports leaders around the world.
‘I think the United States is very important to the future of the Olympic movement and the Paralympic movement,’ USOPC president and chair Gene Sykes said, ‘and we try to conduct ourselves with respect and humility when we’re dealing with the entire world, because that’s the appropriate way to behave when we’re in the Olympic and Paralympic movement.
‘That message and that tone is something that we feel Team USA really needs to provide to the world. That’s how we want to conduct ourselves on the world stage, and so we’re very committed to that, and I’m quite proud to be part of that effort with my colleagues (in USOPC leadership), and honestly, all of Team USA.”
In words and action, U.S. Olympic officials have distanced themselves from the most controversial decisions of the Trump administration, without mentioning President Trump by name.
When asked about reports of ICE agents on the ground in Milan, USOPC Chief Security Officer Nicole Deal quickly offered a rebuttal.
‘I could tell you unequivocally, there are no ICE agents that are part of the Team USA delegation on the ground here in Milan,” she said. ‘I am not aware that there are ICE agents here. And I think when it comes to securing major events, a lot of people don’t know what the capacities and capabilities and the resources that are needed (are). So there’s a lot of misinformation and assumptions that are made. And I think this inaccuracy that ICE is here on the ground, securing the Games, was one of those. So I’m glad we’re able to set the record straight and provide on-the-ground truth that ICE is not part of the Team USA delegation.’
Asked later if ICE agents are part of the U.S. embassy or diplomatic mission here, Deal replied, ‘I can’t speak on behalf of the State Department or the embassy.”
On Sunday, USA TODAY Sports reported the U.S. national governing bodies of three of the top winter sports — figure skating, ice hockey and speedskating — changed the name of their hospitality space from The Ice House to The Winter House in an attempt to avoid potential controversy after protests against ICE in both the United States and Milan.
Sykes, who also is an International Olympic Committee member, spoke at length about the United States’ responsibility to the worldwide Olympic movement.
‘One of the things that I wanted to make sure I did and we did,’ Sykes said, “was to remind my fellow (IOC) members from around the world that in a period when there’s a lot of geopolitical turmoil and lots of questions about how long-term relationships are valued or not valued in the international environment, that all of us in the United States who work on the Olympic and Paralympic Games, all the efforts around it, are a community who have been in this, and our predecessors behind us, for well over a century.
‘We’re dedicated to it, we’re professionals, we’re serious about it, and we conduct ourselves as partners with all of the other people around the world who do this for their professional lives. We take our responsibilities very seriously, and we’re their partners. And I think that was very reassuring.”