IOC: Athletes at 2020 Olympics not allowed to kneel, make political hand gestures

(Image credit: Behrouz Mehri/AFP via Getty Images)

published 10 January 2020

The International Olympic Committee is letting athletes know ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Games which political protests will not be allowed.

The IOC released its guidelines on Thursday. They prohibit athletes from taking a knee, making hand gestures with a political meaning, and wearing armbands. Olympians will be allowed to share their political opinions on their social media accounts or during interviews with the media. Athletes who break the rules will receive disciplinary action from the IOC, a national Olympic body, and their sport's governing body, The Associated Press reports.

"We needed clarity and they wanted clarity on the rules," IOC Athletes' Commission Chair Kirsty Coventry told AP. "The majority of athletes feel it is very important that we respect each other as athletes." Last August, fencer Race Imboden and hammer thrower Gwen Berry were punished after the Pan-American Games in Lima, where Imboden kneeled during the national anthem and Berry raised her fist in protest. They were both placed on probation for 12 months.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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