(Tokyo) — Image of the founding leader of Communist China, Mao ZedongThe International Olympic Committee said on Tuesday that it was “investigating the problem” after making an unscheduled appearance at the Tokyo Olympics.

The Maopin badge gesture worn by two Chinese gold medalists at the medal award ceremony is determined to be a violation of Olympic Charter Rule 50, which bans political statements on the podium at the Tokyo Olympics and the upcoming 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. There is a risk.

After winning the women’s sprint on Monday’s track cycling, Abalone Coral and Zhong Tianshi wore Mao’s tin badge. The leader of the Communist Party, who declared the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, is still a symbol of China, 45 years after his death in 1976.

The incident happened the day after Raven Saunders, an American shot put silver medalist. Crossed the wrists of her raised arms On the podium. She stood next to a Chinese gold medalist. (It was unclear if Maopin was a reaction to the shot put medal ceremony on Tuesday.)

“We contacted the Chinese Olympic Committee and asked for a report on the situation,” IOC spokesman Marc Adams said at a daily press conference at the Tokyo Olympics.

read more: Team USA athletes are protesting the Tokyo Olympics despite IOC restrictions

The badge, which shows Mao’s profile, was worn by hundreds of millions of people in the 1960s and showed loyalty to the Communist Party chairman and the radical Cultural Revolution he launched in 1966. Xi Jinping, the current leader of China, It evoked the image of Mao He seeks to promote his own position as a leader in history-making China.

At the event on July 1, Xi appeared at Tiananmen Square in central Beijing, wearing the same gray mao suit worn by former leaders in a portrait near the square overlooking the square. Another leader of the same event in a blue business suit.

IOC Published Prior to the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics in February, President Thomas Bach called Xi on a regular basis, and human rights activists called a “slaughter game” because of the government’s treatment of Muslim minority Uighurs in northwestern China. I tried to brand.

At the Tokyo Olympics, where athlete activists were expected to attract attention, Sanders pushed the limits of Rule 50 by crossing his wrists into an X shape. When asked to explain it.

Sanders made a gesture towards the photographer at the Olympic Stadium a few seconds after standing towards the Chinese flag during the performance of Lord Sir Tate’s national anthem. The US Olympic group has taken no action against Sanders, who said at the end of Monday that he “respected her competitors and did not violate our rules related to demonstrations.”

Adams said on Tuesday that the IOC had asked US team officials for more details, adding that it referred to public opinion in the case. Black and gay Sanders had widespread support.

Sanders told the Olympic track that her purpose was “to show young people that no matter how many boxes you put in, you can be you and accept it.”

The IOC has long claimed to be politically neutral and must maintain its stance in order for more than 200 national teams to arrive at the Olympics and compete on an equal footing. Nevertheless, the rules banning all athletes’ protests at the Olympic venue were slightly relaxed weeks before the opening ceremony in Tokyo, where athletes were expected to test their limits.

Gestures and statements are now allowed in the stadium before the start line or game, rather than during competition or at a medal award ceremony. For example, several women’s soccer teams knelt on the field before the kick-off on the first day of the Olympic Games on July 21st.

However, Mao’s Pin was an unexpected twist on the Rule 50 debate. Wearing such badges has declined since 1970 due to complaints that the Chinese industry has run out of a shortage of metal needs. The original Cultural Revolution era is sought after by collectors in both China and the West.

Mao’s image regained popularity in the 1990s, complaining that ordinary Chinese gained too little from suffering the economic changes that caused inflation and furloughing of state-owned enterprises.

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