Olympics Boss Addresses Possible Booing Of U.S. Athletes | EUROtoday

International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry this week addressed the chance that American athletes could also be booed in the course of the opening ceremony of the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympic Games, which takes place on Friday.

Watch the press convention on YouTube.

Coventry was requested by a reporter: “It’s hard to escape the geopolitical backdrop, tensions with America, Milan Mayor calling ICE agents ‘a militia that kills.’ Would you see it as free speech or understand it if Americans were jeered in the opening ceremony or do you have a message for them to be respected?”

Coventry stated she hoped the opening ceremony could be seen “by everyone as an opportunity to be respectful of each other.”

The Olympic village, the place athletes are housed in the course of the international sporting showcase, is the “biggest reminder of how we all should be,” she continued, noting how throughout a go to she noticed athletes from all over the world “just hanging out,” wanting unconcerned with the place individuals come from or their faith.

“It was a real opportunity to just put into perspective how we could all be,” she stated. “And so, for me, I hope that the opening ceremony will do that and will be a reminder for everyone how we could be.”

The information that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement workers will likely be in attendance on the Games as a part of the U.S. delegation, which is being led by U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, sparked protests in Italy, given the backlash to their anti-immigration enforcement within the U.S.

ICE workers will work in diplomatic workplaces, although.