Olympics
ART MUSEUM REMOVES BUST OF FORMER IOC PRESIDENT OVER “RACIST LEGACY”
BY NEIL SHEFFERD
The Asian Art Museum in San Francisco has removed a bust of former International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Avery Brundage from its foyer because of concerns over his “racist legacy.”
The bust was unveiled by the Asian Art Commission in 1972 and has sat in the foyer since in honour of the institution’s founding patron, as reported by The New York Times.
Brundage, who had represented the United States in 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm in the pentathlon, served as President of the IOC from 1952 to 1972, having joined it as a member in 1936.
Brundage, who died in 1975, opposed the boycott of the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, during his time as President of the American Olympic Committee.
There were calls, led by politicians in the US, to boycott the Games because of concerns around the morality of supporting an Olympics in a country led by a Nazi regime.
There was concern in the United States about Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler’s treatment of Jewish people, his belief in the superior race and how Jewish and black athletes representing the US at Berlin 1936 would be treated.
Brundage argued politics had no place in sport claiming: “The Olympic Games belong to the athletes and not to the politicians.”
In December 1935, the Amateur Athletic Union of the United States voted to send a team to Berlin 1936, with Brundage playing a key in swinging the vote in favour of participation.
The Museum benefactor also expelled African American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos from the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City after they raised their fists in support with the Black Power movement on the podium after winning silver and bronze medals in the 200 metres.
Brundage deemed the pair’s actions to be a domestic political statement unfit for the Olympic Games.
Asian Art Museum director Jay Xu claimed they had not fully aware of Brundage’s controversial past until 2016, when staff were preparing for the Museum’s 55th anniversary celebrations.
In an open letter earlier this month, published in response to the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, which has Black Lives Matter marches all around the world, Xu addressed the thorny issue of the Museum’s history.
“If we pride ourselves as guardians of a historical art collection, we must contend with the very history of how our Museum came to be,” Xu wrote.
“Avery Brundage, whose collection forms the nucleus of this institution, espoused racist and anti-Semitic views.
“We have removed his name from Museum initiatives but have yet to address this history in a fully open and transparent way.
“Only by publicly condemning Brundage’s racism and examining the foundation of our Museum can we become an even greater source of healing and connection.
“Addressing this history is only a modest beginning.
“We must ensure that anti-racist measures are foundational to all Museum work and processes, and to the experience of every visitor.
“Our Museum is still learning how we can nurture the kind of intersectionality that allies us to larger movements and promote change from within our own institution.
“We must engage our communities for guidance, insight, and partnership, and welcome all comments, suggestions, and criticisms.
“In this way, we can evolve into a Museum that is truly for all.”
Brundage, whose wealth was based upon his construction business, had first became interested in Asian art after a visit he made to an exhibition of Chinese art at the Royal Academy in London in early 1936, after the Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, which had also been organised by the Nazi regime.
In 1960, it was estimated that Brundage’s collection was worth $15 million (£12 million/€13 million).
Much of Brundage’s collection was based upon stock he had bought which had originally been owned by Japanese dealers in the US that was impounded during World War Two.
He agreed to donate parts of his collection to the City of San Francisco, and in 1966 the Asian Art Museum was opened to showcase it.
Brundage continued to make donations to the new Museum and left the remainder of his collection to it in his will.
Today, the museum has 7,700 pieces from Brundage among the 17,000-plus objects which make up its collection
The bust, which has now been moved into storage, was unveiled on the occasion of Brundage’s 85th birthday, and had an inscription which read: “It is evidence of the lasting appreciation of the people of San Francisco for the magnificent gift to San Francisco of his collection of Asian art.
“The Avery Brundage collection is the nucleus of the city’s collections of Asian art and is the foundation of the centre of Asian art and culture.
“The lives of untold millions of men, women and children of this and future generations will be enriched by his generosity.”
-insdiethegames
Athletes at the Milano Cortina Winter Games have raced through their free condom supply ahead of Valentine’s Day, leaving dispensers empty on Saturday, with more than a week of competition remaining.
According to a report by Reuters, organisers had distributed around 10,000 condoms across the city and mountain accommodation sites, continuing a long-standing Olympic tradition aimed at promoting safe relationships among competitors living in close quarters.
By Saturday, however, supplies had run out — adding Milan to a growing list of Olympic hosts where demand has comfortably exceeded expectations.
“Clearly, this shows Valentine’s Day is in full swing at the village,” International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams told a press conference. “Ten thousand have been used — 2,800 athletes — you can go figure, as they say.”
Adams added with a smile: “It is rule 62 of the Olympic Charter that we have to have a condoms story. Faster, higher, stronger, together.”
Milano Cortina organisers later acknowledged that stocks had been depleted due to “higher-than-anticipated demand,” but assured that additional supplies were already on the way.
“Additional supplies are being delivered and will be distributed across all Villages between today and Monday,” organisers said in a statement. “They will be continuously replenished until the end of the Games to ensure continued availability.”
The unexpected shortage also surprised some athletes.
Mexican figure skater Donovan Carrillo said he had only just heard about the situation. “I just saw that this morning. I was, like, shocked as everyone else,” he said.
Mialitiana Clerc, an alpine skier representing Madagascar, noted that boxes once placed at building entrances were quickly emptied.
“There were a lot of boxes at the entrance of every building where we were staying, and every day, everything had gone from the boxes,” Clerc said. “I already know that a lot of people are using condoms, or giving them to their friends outside of the Olympics, because it’s a kind of gift for them.”
While medals remain the official measure of achievement at the Games, the empty dispensers suggest that the social side of the Olympics is also proceeding at full pace.
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday awarded a top state honour to an Olympic skeleton racer who was disqualified from the Winter Games for wearing a helmet commemorating athletes killed in the war with Russia.
Zelenskiy, speaking to Vladyslav Heraskevych on the sidelines of the annual Munich Security Conference, said he had great respect for “all the Olympians who supported you and your position.”
“Medals are important for Ukraine and for you, but it seems to me that the most important thing is who you are,” Zelenskiy said while presenting the racer with the Order of Freedom.
Heraskevych told the president the award was “huge” and that the athletes depicted on the helmet “deserve it even more. Because of their sacrifice, we can compete in the Olympics.”
Heraskevych, 27, was disqualified at the Winter Games in Italy on Thursday when the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation jury ruled that the helmet’s depiction of athletes killed since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 breached rules on political neutrality.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed his appeal on Friday.
Heraskevych told reporters after the award ceremony that his disqualification was discriminatory as he had not violated the Olympic Charter, a document he said he “really valued.”
“But at the same time, I understand that this scandal has united people around the world about our problem and about the sacrifice of these great athletes, and I believe this goal is much more important than any medal,” he said.
Speaking before the CAS hearing earlier in the day, Heraskevych said his exclusion and rules imposed by the International Olympic Committee were “an instrument of propaganda for Russia. I still receive a lot of threats from the Russian side.”
-Reuters
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
Ukraine’s skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych was disqualified from the Milano Cortina Winter Games on Thursday over the use of a helmet depicting Ukrainian athletes killed in the war with Russia, the International Olympic Committee said.
He was informed of his disqualification after a meeting with IOC President Kirsty Coventry early in the morning at the sliding venue.
His team said they would appeal the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Coventry told reporters she had wanted to meet the athlete face to face in a last-ditch effort to break the impasse.
“I was not meant to be here but I thought it was really important to come here and talk to him face to face,” Coventry told reporters.
“No one, especially me, is disagreeing with the messaging, it’s a powerful message, it’s a message of remembrance, of memory.
“The challenge was to find a solution for the field of play. Sadly we’ve not been able to find that solution” she added, choking up.
“I really wanted to see him race, It’s been an emotional morning.”
The IOC offered him the opportunity to display his “helmet of remembrance” depicting 24 images of dead compatriots before the start and after the end of Thursday’s race at the Games, while also allowing him to wear a black armband while competing.
“I am disqualified from the race. I will not get my Olympic moment,” said Heraskevych.
The skeleton competition starts later on Thursday.
-Reuters
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
NFF Slaps N1m Fine on Clubs that Fail to Honour Federation Cup Matches
Heineken Brings “Fans Have More Friends” Campaign to Nigeria for Champions League Round of 16
Iraq coach calls for delay to World Cup playoff amid travel shutdown
- WAFCON4 days ago
BREAKING: CAF Postpones WAFCON 2026
- OBITUARY5 days ago
Nigerian Sports Journalism Mourns Oyeniyi Oyeleke and Tonex Chukwu
- MLS1 week ago
Trump to Host Lionel Messi and Inter Miami at the White House
- World Cup5 days ago
‘I really don’t care’ if Iran plays in World Cup, Trump tells Politico
- World Cup4 days ago
Iraq’s World Cup Playoff in Doubt as War Disrupts Travel and Visa Processing
- World Cup8 hours ago
Iraq coach calls for delay to World Cup playoff amid travel shutdown
- FA Cup2 days ago
Eze thunderbolt guides Arsenal past Mansfield into FA Cup quarter-finals
- WAFCON1 week ago
Ahead of WAFCON 2026, CAF Celebrates Super Falcons’ Enduring Legacy from Trailblazers to Torchbearers