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
Roy Jones Jr has been handed the Olympic gold medal he was controversially denied in 1988 in an extraordinary act of sportsmanship by the South Korean fighter who beat him.
Hall of Fame boxer Jones shared a video on Wednesday from two years ago that showed Park Si-hun visiting the American’s ranch in Pensacola, Florida to present him with the light middleweight gold medal.
“I had the gold medal, but I want to give it back to you. It belongs to you,” Park said in the video through his son, who translated.
Jones, who was overcome with emotion by the gesture, covered his face with his hand before saying: “Wow, that is crazy.”
Their match at the Seoul Olympics remains one of boxing’s most contentious moments as Jones appeared to dominate the fight but lost to Park by a 3-2 decision that drew instant criticism and sparked enduring controversy.
Despite losing the gold medal match, Jones was selected as the Val Barker Trophy winner as the best boxer of the 1988 Olympics.
Jones went on to become a four-division world champion and is regarded as one of the sport’s best pound-for-pound fighters of all time.
“In 1988, I was robbed of the gold medal in what became one of the biggest controversies in boxing history,” Jones wrote in his Instagram post.
“By the grace of God, a couple of years ago, the man who won that medal made the trip from South Korea to my home to return it to me, feeling it was rightfully mine.
“I hope you enjoy this moment as much as I did.”
-Reuters
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U.S. President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Tuesday creating a White House Olympics task force to handle security and other issues related to the 2028 Summer Olympic Games, an administration official told Reuters.
The task force, made up of members from Trump’s cabinet and government agencies, will coordinate federal, state and local government work on transportation, the official said.
It also will “streamline visa processing and credentialing for foreign athletes, coaches, officials, and media,” the official said in an email.
The United States will host the Olympics in Los Angeles in three years. Trump, a Republican who lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden, has expressed pleasure that his second term will coincide with the Olympics and the World Cup.
“During his first term, President Trump was instrumental in securing America’s bid to host the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The president considers it a great honor to oversee this global sporting spectacle in his second term,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement on Monday.
Last month organizers of the Los Angeles games released the first look at the Olympic competition schedule . The city had also hosted the Olympics in 1932 and 1984.
“The creation of this task force marks an important step forward in our planning efforts and reflects our shared commitment to delivering not just the biggest, but the greatest Games the world has ever seen in the summer of 2028,” Casey Wasserman, the chair and president of LA28, said in a statement.
–Reuters
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By DAVID LEE
Home is many places for swimmer Adaku Nwandu, who was born in China, lives in Singapore and wears the Nigeria flag on her swimsuit.
And it is at her current home in Singapore that the 17-year-old is making her debut at the World Aquatics Championships (WCH).
In the second heat of the 100m freestyle at the WCH Arena, the teenager, who has a Nigerian father and Chinese mother, led at the turn before finishing third in 1min 0.89sec – she eventually placed 59th out of 82 athletes overall.
After her race, Adaku shared with The Straits Times that she was born and raised in Shanghai, and started swimming when she was eight. Interestingly, it was ice cream that kept her in the sport.
Adaku, who still has the 50m freestyle heats on Aug 2, said: “At a school competition, I didn’t do so well and I asked my dad if we could make a deal. He said if I do better, he would buy me ice cream once every week, and that’s a promise we have kept with each other. And that’s what brought me here.”
In 2023, the family moved to Singapore due to her mother’s work posting. With her fluent Mandarin and love for Asian and spicy food, it did not take long for her to pick up Singlish and enjoy local delights like chicken rice and chilli crab.
She said: “We came here mainly because of my mother’s work, and also because the swimming scene back where I lived in China was a little bit toxic, so she also thought Singapore would be a new experience and better for my swimming.”
By then, she had already committed to representing Nigeria after its aquatics association contacted her after the National Sports Festival in Asaba, where the then 16-year-old was part of the national record-breaking women’s 4x200m freestyle relay team.
But Singapore is where she has been honing her swimming skills, as she has set her 50m and 100m freestyle long- and short-course Nigeria national records at meets here.
Noting her improvements, Singapore swimming coach and performance director Gary Tan said: “Adaku has been participating in our system for a while, and we hope it helps her develop as a swimmer and achieve what she wants while training in Singapore with her school (German European School Singapore).”
For someone who is inspired by Olympic champions David Popovici, Caeleb Dressel and Adam Peaty for “their dedication and the way they are able to take breaks for themselves to improve and get back to the water”, qualifying for Paris 2024 on ranking points was a dream come true.
Her Olympic debut was also unforgettable as her swimsuit ripped 20 minutes before her 50m freestyle heat, but she managed to finish second in her heat and 33rd out of 78th overall in 26.62 seconds, just 0.03 of a second off her personal best.
Back in Singapore, Adaku, who is in the International Baccalaureate (IB) programme at her school, realised that she needed more of such resilience to reach her goals.
The swimmer, who also plays for the school’s volleyball team, said: “I had a lot of improvement the first year I came to Singapore. But this past year has been especially hard for me with family problems and also school. The workload in my first year of IB made it hard to balance training and school.
“Especially in the next year, I want to focus more on swimming and try to get some new personal bests because this year I just plateaued. I’m looking forward to training harder and preparing for my next competition and hopefully qualify for the next Olympics.”
-Strait Times, Singapore
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