Shortly before their event at the Beijing Olympics, four U.S. cyclists were reprimanded by a U.S. Olympic Committee member for wearing respiratory masks. Now, the cyclists are asking for an apology from the USOC. "Much of this problem boils down to not having the athlete's ombudsman in the village to mediate these sort of problems," said Andy Sparks, one of two coaches for the U.S. track cycling team. "The athletes had no support in their time of need, besides me. And that ended up being like trying to jump on and cover up a nuclear bomb!" (The Morning Call.)
Related post: Olympic Athlete Ombuds in the News.
The cyclists are a bunch of whiners. See Olympians Need To Take A Deep Breath
ReplyDeleteWhether the cyclists are "whiners" or not misses the point of the post. You never know when an ombuds might be needed to mediate a situation and avoid the escalation that occurred.
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