Britain backs China on Olympics

Under attack for its human rights record before the Beijing Olympics, China gained support Thursday from British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, who opposed linking the event to progress on human rights.

China's communist government has come under tough criticism from rights groups and the U.S. Congress for its curbs on the media and religious activity and its support for Sudan's government, which is accused of fostering a humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region.

Beijing, they say, has ignored an earlier pledge that holding the Olympics would improve human rights in China.

As host of the 2012 London Summer Olympics, Britain has a powerful incentive to ensure that the image of the games not be tarnished by scandal.

Miliband said "no opportunity has been wasted" to raise concerns about human rights with Chinese officials, but that discussions on such matters should not be explicitly tied to the games in August.

"We believe that the Olympics are an opportunity to celebrate the progress that has been achieved in China," Miliband told reporters after a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.

"From our point of view, engagement, not isolation, is the right way forward," he said.

Darfur has become an especially hot issue because China buys two-thirds of Sudan's oil exports, sells weapons to the Islamic government and defends it in the United Nations.

China's perceived refusal to use that influence to pressure Khartoum prompted Hollywood director Steven Spielberg to pull out as an artistic adviser for the Beijing Olympics.

The British Olympic Association was also accused of attempting to gag its athletes at the Beijing Games after it said it would require its athletes to sign a new clause in their contracts prohibiting them from making politically sensitive remarks or gestures during the Olympics.

Appearing alongside Miliband, Yang sarcastically dismissed questions about links between rights issues and the Olympics, denying that a laid-off factory worker who went on trial last week on subversion charges had been arrested for protesting the Olympic Games.

The man, Yang Chunlin, had sought to rally support for landless farmers by posting a letter on the Internet with the title: "We want human rights, not the Olympics."

"People in China enjoy extensive freedom of speech," Yang said. "No one will get arrested because he has said human rights were more important than the Olympic Games. This is impossible."

Yang also defended China's involvement on the Darfur issue, pointing to Beijing's dispatch of peacekeepers and development assistance to Sudan.

Ueberroth: US a guest at Olympics

The U.S. Olympic Committee wants American athletes to focus on being good guests, not outspoken reformers, when they get to the Beijing Olympics.

USOC chairman Peter Ueberroth acknowledged Friday that the upcoming Beijing Games will be different because they'll shine a light on China. But he insists the focus should be on the Olympics, and not so much on their newest host country.

"We don't just go there, we get invited there," Ueberroth said Friday at the close of a USOC board meeting. "We accept the invitation, and then there's a set of rules that are IOC rules. We accept those rules. We expect and are sure that our athletes are going to respect their own country, respect their flag, respect the flag of every other country."

The International Olympic Committee charter contains bylaws that say the Olympics are not to be used as a political platform. With the games coming to the world's last communist superpower in less than six months, much has been made of China's record on human rights and free speech, to say nothing of its pollution and questionable food-safety practices.

The Beijing Olympics, many believe, are a golden opportunity to expose the problems.

Ueberroth said he's heard many of the same complaints before — four years ago in Athens, at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles that he helped make a success, and with pretty much every other Olympics in between. But he expects these games to be "literally, the best ever."

"This is a virulent worldwide disease that takes place before any Olympic Games, and that's that the doom-sayers all come out and every worst-case scenario is portrayed," Ueberroth said. "I think it's fair for people to do that, but it seems like business as usual."

Of late, Britain's Olympic federation has caused a stir with one potential plan for athletes to wear masks during competition to fight pollution, and another calling for athletes to sign an agreement stating they will not use the Olympics as a political platform. The federation has assured the agreement will not be a restriction on free speech.

A Dutch lawmaker this week suggested a boycott of the opening ceremonies to protest China's human-rights record.

Mia Farrow has been loud in her calls for China to use its influence with Sudan to help end the conflict in Darfur. China is a major buyer of Sudan's oil and is regarded as one of that isolated government's closest international partners.

Farrow's campaign was bolstered by Steven Spielberg, who pulled out of serving as an artistic adviser for the opening and closing ceremonies because he said he could not reconcile working on the Olympics while China and other nations were not doing enough to ease the suffering in Darfur. American speedskating gold medalist Joey Cheek has spoken out, co-founding the Team Darfur athletes coalition to bring attention to the cause.

Relatively quiet in all this has been the USOC, which has repeatedly stated that it has no concerns with the food supply and is comfortable having its athletes eat the majority of their meals in the Olympic village; that it believes Beijing will get its pollution problems in check; that it won't use the Olympics as a platform to affect political change; and that it expects the Chinese government will fulfill its promise to provide journalists full access to the country through the Olympics.

Ueberroth agrees with the notion that the Olympics are bigger than sports — "They provide a gift to the world of transparency," he said — but he does not buy into the notion that the USOC should be independently promoting change in China.

"In one sense, it's China's Olympic Games, but all they are is a host," he said. "All Los Angeles was was a host. All Athens was was a host. It really is the Olympic movement and you participate under their rules and guidelines, all their procedures and their protocols."

His comments came after a meeting that included updates about the venues and preparation in Beijing, and also on the progress of Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympics.

Ueberroth said he was pleased with the city's progress, thinks it will be a good thing for leaders to be at the Beijing Games to get a sense of the enormity of the project.

Ueberroth is confident Chicago will make the short list of finalists in June, but still doesn't consider Chicago a favorite in the contest, which includes Madrid, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro and three other cities.

"They're improving every day, but so are their competitors," he said.

IOC: Games can't solve world's problems

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — With the clash between sports and politics sharpening as the Beijing Games near, the president of the IOC says the Olympics cannot solve the world's problems.

The International Olympic Committee has come under pressure from political activists protesting China's policies on human rights, Tibet, Darfur, press and religious freedom, and other issues.

"The IOC is a catalyst for change in China but it is not a panacea," Jacques Rogge said in an interview with The Associated Press. "It is a sporting, non-political organization and we cannot solve the problems of the world."

At a news conference Wednesday, Beijing Olympic marketing director Yuan Bin called on activist groups who oppose China's perceived role in Darfur not to put pressure on sponsors to withdraw their financial support.

Some politicians have even suggested a boycott of the games.

"I think it is unavoidable that non-governmental organizations want to leverage the business of the Olympic Games from China," Rogge said. "We believe the Olympic Games are a force for good but don't expect from the games what they cannot deliver."

Last week, Hollywood director Steven Spielberg backed out of his role as artistic adviser to the Beijing opening and closing ceremonies. He accused China of doing too little to end the problems of Darfur, a western province of Sudan where more than 200,000 people have died in conflict between rebels and government-back militias.

"If you organize an Olympic Games in general you know there will be criticism," Rogge said following a ceremony to award Singapore the right to host the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in August 2010.

"There has been criticism in Athens (host of the 2004 Olympics) and there will be criticism in (2012 host) London. That is part of the games."

IOC: Kosovo Olympic team 'unlikely'

Kosovo's chances of fielding a separate team at the Beijing Olympics are "unlikely" despite the province's declaration of independence from Serbia, the IOC said Monday.

International Olympic Committee spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau said Kosovo needs to be recognized by the United Nations as an independent state and meet various sports requirements before gaining Olympic status.

"At this stage we still have to see what that the U.N. decides," Moreau said. "It looks unlikely athletes would be able to compete in Beijing for Kosovo because of the very short period of time."

The Beijing Olympics run Aug. 8-24.

Five ethnic Albanian boxers from Kosovo are hoping to represent their homeland in Beijing.

Apart from U.N. recognition, Kosovo needs to have a recognized national Olympic committee and official ties with several international sports federations.

Once those criteria are met, the IOC executive board could endorse Kosovo's Olympic status. Final approval would come from the full IOC assembly.

"As we speak today, it is too early to say what will happen," Moreau said in a telephone interview from Lausanne, Switzerland. "It's quite early in the process. It's completely hypothetical. We will have to wait and see what the U.N. decides."

Short of full recognition, the IOC could allow Kosovar athletes to compete as independent competitors under the Olympic flag. Such arrangements were made previously for athletes from East Timor and the former Yugoslavia.

On Sunday, Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders declared independence from Serbia. Kosovo had formally remained a part of Serbia even though it has been administered by the U.N. and NATO since 1999.

The United States, Britain, France and Germany have endorsed Kosovo's independence declaration. Russia and Serbia are opposed, as are a few EU countries, including Spain.

Last July, the IOC granted recognition to the Pacific island chain of Tuvalu and the former Yugoslav republic of Montenegro, bringing Olympic membership to 205 nations.

Four athletes from East Timor competed in white uniforms under the Olympic flag at the 2000 Sydney Games as "individual Olympic athletes." East Timor was still under U.N. administrations following its vote in 1999 for independence from Indonesia. The IOC acted following appeals from then U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

The East Timor solution was similar to the arrangement made for Yugoslav athletes to compete at the 1992 Barcelona Games. Yugoslavia was under U.N. sanctions at the time because of conflicts with its republics, but the IOC permitted its athletes to compete as individuals with no national affiliation.

Spielberg quits as Olympics adviser

Steven Spielberg is ending his involvement as an artistic adviser for the Beijing Olympics.

The film director made the decision Tuesday, hours after actress Mia Farrow and several humanitarian groups assailed him for working with the games' Chinese organizers.

At issue for both Farrow and Spielberg is China's close relationship with Sudan, where thousands have been killed and millions displaced in the Darfur region.

China buys two-thirds of Sudan's oil exports. In turn, China sells weapons to the Sudanese government and has defended Khartoum in the U.N. Security Council.

Spielberg had already sent a letter urging President Hu Jintao to use China's influence during the Olympics to help the situation in Darfur.

BOA: 'No intention of gagging'

The British Olympic Association has "no intention of gagging" its athletes at the Beijing Games.

A day after the BOA said it would require its athletes to sign a new clause in their contracts prohibiting them from making politically sensitive remarks or gestures during the Olympics, the association clarified its stance.

"Clearly (the instructions) had been misinterpreted and we now accept they may have been open to misinterpretation," BOA spokesman Graham Newsom said Monday. "But there is no intention of gagging anyone. We are trying to mirror what it says in the Olympic Charter."

Simon Clegg, the BOA's chief executive, acknowledged that the BOA's Team Members Agreement appeared to go beyond the provision of the Olympic Charter.

"This is not our intention nor is it our desire to restrict athletes freedom of speech and the final agreement will reflect this," Clegg said.

Newsom said no such gagging order existed. He said the organization had not tried to put a block on free speech and had been under no political pressure from the government.

"The reality is that we have historically had a very strong independent views and we are completely different from government," Newsom said. "We don't take any government funding and we make our own views."

The BOA has sent out instructions to athletes headed for Beijing that they should abide by IOC-backed regulations which state they should not comment on any politically sensitive issues or take part in political, religious or racial propaganda at the Olympic sites and venues.

Newsom said the instructions had been in place for at least 20 years and were sent out to those athletes going to their first Olympics who had not seen them before.

In January, Belgian athletes were told they would be prohibited from raising human rights or other political issues at Olympic venues. Outside the sports venues and Olympic village, however, they will be free to speak their mind.

Gymnast Hamm comes back and wins again

Paul Hamm fell, maybe just to prove he's human. Even that couldn't derail another remarkable performance Saturday night, as the defending Olympic champion breezed to a victory at the Winter Cup Challenge and again showed what a power he could be six months from now in Beijing.

He finished with a two-day score of 185.85, a full 7.25 better than runner-up Raj Bhavsar. Hamm's only error in the finals, the second phase of his first full meet since he won the all-around in Athens, was a bad landing on his vault.

He overcame it — much like he did during his stunning comeback at the Olympics all-around four years ago — and walked away leaving little question as to who America's best gymnast is.

After his last perfect landing on the floor, he knew he'd won and lifted both hands to celebrate, then waved to the crowd. Was he happy? Relieved? Probably both after winning in this, his first full gymnastics meet in 2 1/2 years.

Yes, it's still very early, but the giddiness is palpable among the Americans, who now officially have Hamm as part of their 14-man team, which will be culled to six for the Olympics.

After watching him perform in preliminaries Thursday, 2006 national champion Sasha Artemev called Hamm the man to beat at the Olympics and said his presence pushes the U.S. team into gold-medal contention.

Granted, the Winter Cup comes very early on the schedule, and no gymnast comes to this event at the top of his game. But that includes Hamm, and the fact that he's this good at this point can only be viewed as a positive sign.

One of his biggest concerns was keeping his energy up through the grind of 12 events over three days. The new code of points in the sport has added about 30 percent to all the routines, and Hamm found himself a bit gassed at the end of Thursday.

He was helped this time because the biggest strength event, rings, and the one that tripped him up in prelims, pommel horse, both came early in the meet for him.

Hamm missed his pommel dismount in prelims, but not this time. His only minor hiccup was a pause as he scooted his hands across the horse, but he essentially nullified it because of the amazing strength and balance he showed to stay on and almost completely mask the error.

Later, he scored a 15.4 on rings, actually .15 less than in prelims, but the way he holds positions shows he's clearly stronger than he was four years ago. His increased difficulty on rings brings him that much closer to one of his main international rivals, Yang Wei of China.

Though maybe Hamm's most impressive set on this night came on parallel bars, a few minutes after his fall on vault. It was strong, filled with ramrod-straight handstands and seemingly effortless glides from one end of the equipment to the middle.

If he had given the competition hope with that fall on vault, that routine on parallel bars quickly dashed it.

British Olympic contracts to be amended

British Olympic athletes must sign a new clause in their contracts prohibiting politically sensitive remarks or gestures during the Beijing Games.

"The reality is, given the level of political scrutiny of the world's media on these games and the way China will handle them, the BOA felt it was sensible and proper to flag that rule to our athletes," British Olympic Association communications director Graham Mewson said Sunday.

The International Olympic Committee already has a rule that states that "no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas."

In January, Belgian athletes were told they would be prohibited from raising human rights or other political issues at Olympic venues. Outside the sports venues and Olympic village, however, they will be free to speak their mind.

The BOA is making the change because China's government is widely regarded as sensitive to criticism over issues such as its human rights record and Tibet, Mewson said.

British athletes have been required to sign the 32-page BOA contract for 20 years before competing in the Olympics, but this is the first time such a clause is being added.

Mewson said the clause will not bar British athletes from "honestly answering" questions they are asked during interviews at the Aug. 8-24 games about "politically sensitive issues."

"An athlete who decides to lift up his team shirt to show a 'Free Tibet' one below it, that's very different," Mewson said.

Wariner loses coach before Beijing Games

Defending Olympic 400 meters champion Jeremy Wariner and his longtime coach have split over a contract dispute with the Beijing Games just seven months away.

Clyde Hart, who has coached Wariner for five years beginning with their days at Baylor University, said Tuesday that Wariner wanted to pay him less than his previous contracts.

Hart declined to say if Wariner has lined up a new coach. Wariner's agent is world record-holder Michael Johnson, another Hart protege.

Hart said his previous one-year contract paid him a percentage of Wariner's earnings and that the runner offered him a new deal for less pay.

"The better he did, the better the coach would be compensated," under the old deal, Hart said. "If he didn't do good, I would suffer also."

In addition to the Olympic gold medal, Wariner won the gold medal at the 2005 and 2007 World Championships, setting a personal record each year under Hart's tutoring. He's favored to repeat his Olympic medal this year.

Hart deflected a question whether the dispute strained his relationship with Johnson and Wariner.

"It's been a strange situation all the way around," Hart said.

Johnson did not immediately respond to a telephone message seeking comment left with Wariner's manager, Deon Minor. According to Wariner's Web site, he's scheduled to compete at the Sydney Grand Prix in Australia on Feb. 16.

Hart has long been considered a 400-meters guru with an international reputation for developing some of the biggest names in the track.

Hart is an eight-time National Track and Field Coach of the Year and received the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Coach of the Year award in 1996, 2004, and 2006.

Hart said he enjoyed coaching Wariner but made his decision based on the business of the sport.

"It was good money, and probably most people would jump at it in a heartbeat," he said, without giving specifics. "I just felt that any type of cutback wasn't justified."

Hart said he will continue to coach Sanya Richards, the world's top-ranked female runner over 400 meters the past three years.

"I feel Jeremy will continue to be successful because he has a strong desire to excel and is blessed with tremendous athletic ability. I wish him the very best in his pursuit of Olympic gold," Hart said.