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Nyårsfirare vid propagandaskylt för Peking- OS, arkivbild på Coe. (TT)

Friidrottstopp sågar OS-bojkott: ”Meningslöst”

Internationella friidrottsförbundets ordförande Sebastian Coe menar att det vore ”meningslöst” att bojkotta vinterns OS i Peking. Det säger han enligt Reuters.

– Jag är inte likgiltig eller nonchalant när det gäller mänskliga rättigheter. Jag tar dem på största allvar, förtydligar Coe men lägger till att han inte tror att bojkotter ”uppnår så mycket i långa loppet”.

USA, Kanada, Australien och Storbritannien har valt att politiskt bojkotta OS i Kina. Sverige kommer inte heller skicka några politiker till spelen, men enligt regeringen handlar det inte om någon bojkott, skriver TT.

bakgrund
 
Sebastian Coe
Wikipedia (en)
Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe, (born 29 September 1956), often referred to as Seb Coe or Lord Coe, is a British politician and former track and field athlete. As a middle-distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals, including the 1500 metres gold medal at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984. He set nine outdoor and three indoor world records in middle-distance track events – including, in 1979, setting three world records in the space of 41 days – and the world record he set in the 800 metres in 1981 remained unbroken until 1997. Coe's rivalries with fellow Britons Steve Ovett and Steve Cram dominated middle-distance racing for much of the 1980s.Following Coe's retirement from athletics, he was a Conservative member of parliament from 1992 to 1997 for Falmouth in Cornwall, and became a Life Peer on 16 May 2000. He headed the successful London bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympics and became chairman of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games. In 2007, he was elected a vice-president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), and re-elected for another four-year term in 2011. In August 2015, he was elected president of the IAAF.In 2012, Coe was appointed Pro-Chancellor at Loughborough University where he had been an undergraduate, and is also a member of the University's governing body. He was of one of 24 athletes inducted as inaugural members of the IAAF Hall of Fame. In November 2012, he was appointed chairman of the British Olympic Association. Coe was presented with the Lifetime Achievement award at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year in December 2012.
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