IOC defends racist torchbearer, use of rehearsal video [View all]
Source: Associated Press
Olympic officials are defending the use of TV rehearsal footage to cover up a glitch in Sochi's opening ceremony and the choice of a final torchbearer who had posted a racially offensive tweet about President Barack Obama.
... "Some people decided to take some other footage and some not," International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams told a news conference Saturday. "It's a very technical Olympic ceremony, very well organized. But the show itself was a fantastic one. I don't see what the problem is, to be honest."
... IOC and Sochi officials also defended Irina Rodnina, the three-time figure skating gold medallist who lit the cauldron with hockey great Vladislav Tretiak at the close of the torch relay.
... "Irina Rodnina is one of the most respected" Olympic athletes in the world, Sochi organizing chief Dmitry Chernyshenko said. "I want to stress that Olympics is not about politics. Any political talks and discussions are inappropriate for the Olympic Games."
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/ioc-defends-use-of-rehearsal-footage-in-ceremony-1.2528533
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