Win Htet Oo refuses to go to the Olympics under the Burmese banner. – Asanka Brendon Ratnayake / AFP
If it did not allow him to be granted a direct qualification for the Games via the criteria of the International Federation, the time taken in 2019 at the Southeast Asian Games by the Burmese swimmer Win Htet Oo (22 sec 62 out of 50 m freestyle, the 128th Asian performance that year, according to Fina) potentially put him in contention for Tokyo.
But a few weeks ago, as contenders around the world eagerly await to finally compete in the year-delayed 2020 edition, the 26-year-old swimmer announced he was quitting. “To accept the MOC (Burmese National Olympic Committee) as it is currently run is to recognize the legitimacy of a murderous regime,” he wrote on April 10 on Facebook. In the Parade of Nations, I will not walk under a flag soaked in the blood of my people. “
The military seized power in Burma on February 1 in a coup that overthrew the civilian government of former Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. Since then, the country has been plunged into a deep crisis, the military repressing in blood the almost daily demonstrations organized to demand the return of democracy.
The junta “smears Olympic values”
A vast movement of civil disobedience has also sprung up, crippling much of the economy and the country’s public services. For Win Htet Oo, ignoring Tokyo was his way of participating in this movement. “I wanted to show the Burmese that athletes can participate in the civil disobedience movement,” he told AFP, speaking from Melbourne, Australia, where he resides. “To imagine myself walking all smiles behind my flag pretending all is well in Burma frankly disgusted me. (…) It would have been a propaganda exercise, ”he said.
The international community has widely condemned the actions of the junta, and of the great powers including the United States, the EU and Great Britain, imposed sanctions against senior military officers. In March, Win Htet Oo wrote to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), asking to compete as an “independent Olympic athlete” due to the ongoing violence in his country. But his request was refused, he said. “I’m trying to let the IOC and people in general know that the MOC is not a legitimate Olympic committee and that it sullies Olympic values,” he said with a sigh.