International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry this week addressed the possibility that American athletes may be booed during the opening ceremony of the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympic Games, which takes place on Friday.
Watch the press conference on YouTube.
Coventry was asked 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 said she hoped the opening ceremony would be seen “by everyone as an opportunity to be respectful of each other.”
The Olympic village, where athletes are housed during the global sporting showcase, is the “biggest reminder of how we all should be,” she continued, noting how during a visit she saw athletes from around the world “just hanging out,” looking unconcerned with where people come from or their religion.
