Tybet Watch

The first and long-awaited Tibet-related protest of by Polish athlete – the weightlifter Szymon Kołecki – in Beijing. In keeping with earlier pledges, Mr Kołecki shaved his head in a gesture of solidarity with the Tibetan monks.

Following this year’s dramatic events in Tibet, Mr Kołecki said: ‘I am outraged by what’s going on in Tibet. When I read about it, I can hardly believe I’ll compete in a country that bloodily suppresses street protests and persecutes people who don’t agree with the party. I can’t believe the Chinese have launched an immense operation to block Lhasa’.

‘This month in Beijing is a chance for the world’s biggest audience to see how China persecutes the Tibetan people’.

‘I am sure that informal groups will emerge of athletes willing to manifest what they think. Until 17 August I’ll be focused chiefly on my participation in the contest. But after that I’ll keep my eyes wide open and if I see something worrying, I’ll surely not look away’.

In his conversation with Gazeta, Mr Kołecki said that even before the events in Tibet he wanted to demonstrate his support for the occupied region in Beijing. He was one of the few Polish athletes who spoke so firmly in favour of the Tibetans and against China’s human rights violations.

On 20 March this year, Mr Kołecki said, ‘Unless the Chinese regime becomes more moderate, I’ll compete with my head shaved in a gesture of solidarity with the Tibetan monks’.

Yesterday he participated in the weightlifting competition, winning silver, with his head shaved. He so commented on his appearance: ‘It’s a haircut from this morning. I can’t really say why I decided to wear it. It’s connected with certain things that the Olympic Charter forbids*. But I can say that it’s symbolic’.

Head-shaving was one of the propositions of the Athlete Wanted campaign carried out across the world by pro-Tibet organisations. In Poland, the campaign was carried out by the Inna Przestrzeń Foundation’s Tibetan Programme, as part of which Polish athletes were contacted directly as well as via the internet. More on the campaign here: http://ratujtybet.org/Pekin_2008/ and here http://www.athletewanted.org/.

* Rule 51.3 of the Olympic Charter provides that ‘no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas’.