“Those who gave her this drug are to blame”: In the case of 15-year-old Kamila Valiyeva, IOC President Thomas Bach takes a sharp stance against those around her. Is that sincere sympathy – or mere calculation?
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John Knuth
One astonishing aspect of Thomas Bach’s overall very astonishing performance on Friday in Beijing was once again what the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) not said. No word on tennis player Peng Shuai, no mention of the human rights situation in the host country; nothing about all the topics that had recently raged around these Olympic Winter Games. An exception was when Bach was asked about Yan Jiarong, the spokeswoman for the organizers, who had classified Taiwan as an “inseparable part of China” the day before during his last press round of these games. Colleagues were kindly reminded that sport should be kept clean of political messages. Otherwise: radio silence.