Cheek denied visa to enter China
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aysun 23 Yaşında İstanbul |
Özge 18 Yaşında İzmir |
Pelin 18 Yaşında İzmir |
Güner 18 Yaşında Almanya |
U.S. gold-medal winning speedskater Joey Cheek had his visa to enter China revoked just a few hours before he was scheduled to travel to Beijing to support Olympic athletes involved with Team Darfur.
Cheek is the president and a co-founder of Team Darfur, an international coalition of athletes committed to raising awareness about and bringing an end to the crisis in Darfur, Sudan.
“I am saddened not to be able to attend the Games,” Cheek said in a prepared statement. “The Olympic Games represent something powerful: that people can come together from around the world and do things that no one thought were possible. However, the denial of my visa is a part of a systemic effort by the Chinese government to coerce and threaten athletes who are speaking out on behalf of the innocent people of Darfur.”
The U.S. Olympic Committee has little recourse in altering the Chinese government’s decision to revoke the visa since Cheek is not competing in the Games.
“It is unfortunate that he (Cheek) will not have that opportunity,” said Jim Scherr, CEO of the USOC. “That’s something between this government and Joey as a private citizen who is trying to make his way to these Games.”
The Chinese government has been criticized for maintaining close diplomatic and trade ties with the Sudan, despite the fact that the African nation has been accused of genocide. Many Western nations, including the U.S., have tried to get China to put pressure on the Sudanese government to stop the killing, but those efforts have so far been unsuccessful.
On July 1, Team Darfur released an open letter containing the signatures of 130 athletes that called for an Olympic Truce for Darfur. Team Darfur urged the international community to convince the Sudanese government to observe a truce before, during, and after the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The letter was addressed to, among other world leaders, U.S. president George W. Bush and Hu Jintao, president of the People’s Republic of China.
Cheek won gold in the 500 meters at the 2006 Winter Games and also earned a silver medal in the 1000m that year. He also made headlines for donating his $25,000 USOC gold medal bonus to Right to Play, another humanitarian organization Cheek is involved with that uses sports to help underprivileged children around the world.
As a result of his athletic and humanitarian efforts at the Games, Cheek was awarded the honor of carrying the U.S. flag at the closing ceremonies in Turin.
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