This little red and gold brooch pairs perfectly with the red and white cycling outfit of Chinese speed racer duo Shanju Bao and Zhong Tianshi.
Except that on this is represented the figure of Mao Zedong, former dictator of China from 1949 and 1973.
IOC asks Chinese team for report on cyclists' Mao Zedong badges https://t.co/mxYi3QTmsf pic.twitter.com/pz9Fi3kvSs
- Reuters (@Reuters) August 3, 2021
It was during the Mao era that the People's Republic of China participated in its first Olympic Games in 1952 in Helsinki.
The IOC then recognized the country and at the same time the political system proclaimed by the statesman in 1949. It is, moreover, the first international organization to have done so.
The IOC on the report
History is a thing of the past.
On Monday, the International Olympic Committee asked for a report on the reasons which prompted the two athletes to hang this sign, however prohibited, on their clothing.
Any political gesture made on the podium is formally prohibited by the governing Olympic body, according to the famous article 50 of the Olympic charter.
The two cyclists would therefore have broken the rule on Monday when they received their medal around the neck after their victory against Germany.
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A few weeks before the start of the Games, rule 50, the one governing the freedom of expression of athletes, had been relaxed.
Athletes are allowed to express their opinions freely but only in front of the media, on social networks, during team meetings or before the start of competitions.
Not during events, anthems, ceremonies, on the podium or in the Olympic Village.