| abstract
| - Olympic gold medalist-activist troublemaker.
- Joey Cheek last made headlines for something that happened off the ice -- the Chinese Embassy revoked his visa shortly before he was set to leave the U.S. for Beijing's 2008 Olympics. What prompted China's action was Cheek's involvement in Team Darfur, an organization of international athletes he co-founded to bring awareness to the crisis in Darfur, Sudan. Cheek's intention -- and he made no secret about it -- was to talk to athletes, the media and the public in Beijing about China's financial support of a government that has brutalized Darfur's people. The visa revocation was news for a day or two but it died quickly, partly because IOC and USOC officials gave Cheek zero support. Olympic poohbahs have long been nervous about athletes making political statements, of course. Before the Beijing Games began the IOC issued a vague one-page memo outlawing any kind of "demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda" in Olympic areas. That ignored the obvious fact that the nationalistic bent of the competition is one big political statement. Cheek's visa was revoked, plain and simple, because the Chinese government did not want to be embarrassed, and it used its bully pulpit to silence Cheek. "I believe that the Olympics is a great forum for discussing human rights," Cheek said after he was banned. "I think you can do that respectfully and within the rules that have been laid out by the IOC." Of course you can. But not according to the USOC. "[Cheek] was not a part of our delegation here but he was attempting to come to the Games as a past Olympian and participate and watch these games," Jim Scherr, the CEO of the USOC, said after the visa news became public. "We think that it is unfortunate that he will not have that opportunity, but that's something between this government and Joey as a private citizen." Great stand, USOC, for a champion athlete who has appeared on a Wheaties box, received numerous humanitarian and sportsmanship awards and carried the flag in the closing ceremonies in Turin, an honor voted on by his U.S. teammates. Cheek took his medicine like a man and will continue to work on human rights issues. Don't bet against him going to China (also known as ) File:Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg again some day and addressing the issue, perhaps even in that country's native tongue.
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