Kimia Alizadeh: Iran's top female athlete defects

DW, 12 January 2020

Iran's only female Olympic medallist, Kimia Alizadeh, has said she has left the country permanently following accusations of mistreatment and sexism against officials. The 21-year-old is reportedly in the Netherlands.

Kimia Alizadeh | 2016 Rio Olympics - Taekwondo (Reuters/I. Kato)

Amid rising unrest in Iran following the accidental shooting down of a Ukrainian plane and simmering tensions with the USA, Iran's only female Olympic medallist, Taekwondo athlete Kimia Alizadeh, has announced that she has defected.

In an Instagram post on Sunday, the 21-year-old said she didn't want to be a part of "hypocrisy, lies, injustice and flattery" as "one of the millions of oppressed women in Iran".

"I wore whatever they told me and repeated whatever they ordered. Every sentence they ordered I repeated. None of us matter for them, we are just tools," she added.

Alizadeh, who made history when she won bronze in Taekwondo at the Rio Olympics as an 18-year-old, is believed to be training in the Netherlands, according to Iran's ISNA news agency.

She has claimed in the past that the Islamic Republic has used her as a propaganda tool and accused Iranian officials of sexism and mistreatment.

The ISNA agency reported that Alizadeh is hoping to still compete at the Tokyo Olympics later this year, but not under the Iranian flag.

Iranian students demonstrated following a tribute for victims of
Wednesday's plane crash (AFP Photo/Atta KENARE)

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Olympic dream turns to nightmare for S. Korea's 'Garlic Girls'

Yahoo – AFP, Claire LEE, 8 February 2019

The 'Garlic Girls' earned their nickname because they hail from a rural part
of South Korea where the pungent bulb is a speciality

The South Korean women's curling team were the unexpected heroines of last year's Winter Olympics, but since their impressive run to the final they have endured a nightmare year.

Known as the "Garlic Girls" for their rural hometown where the pungent bulb is a speciality, all five have the surname Kim and use food-based nicknames to differentiate themselves.

Rank outsiders at the start of the Pyeongchang Games, they upset top teams Canada and Switzerland and shot to fame, with the wide glasses and trademark stare of skip Kim Eun-jung -- known as "Annie", after a yoghurt brand -- inspiring viral memes online.

In the end, "Annie", with "Pancake" Kim Yeong-mi, her sister "Steak" Kyeong-ae, "Chocho" Kim Cho-hi and "Sunny" Kim Seon-yeong, named after sunny-side up eggs, fell at the last hurdle and had to be content with silver -- and national stardom.

But months later, they went public with allegations of abuse and exploitation by their coaches, part of a wide-ranging scandal that has engulfed South Korea's sports establishment.

South Korea's skip Kim Eun-jung -- known as "Annie", after a yogurt brand 

-- inspired viral memes online

Sidelined from the national team and unable to take part in international competitions, the Garlic Girls have plummeted from seventh to 111th in the world rankings.

South Korea is a regional sporting power, regularly in the top-10 medal tables at the summer and winter Olympics.

But in an already intensely competitive society, winning is virtually everything in its elite sports community where coaches hold immense power over athletes' careers.

Physical and verbal abuse are known to be rife -- even in sports as little-known and poorly-funded as curling.

The team said their coaches verbally abused them countless times, had banned them from talking to other athletes, did not share how donation and prize money was being spent and censored their social media accounts and letters from fans.

The athletes' accusations came amid a series of allegations of sexual and 

other abuses by coaches in various disciplines

The curlers were "miserable" and in a "desperate situation", they wrote in a letter to the Korean Sports and Olympic Committee (KSOC), saying their human rights were "being violated".

"We've reached a point where it has become unbearable," they said.

The coaches resigned in December.

'Abuse is nothing new'

Before Pyeongchang, curling was largely unknown to South Korea, which did not even have a team until the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

The Garlic Girls narrative centred around the unlikely success of obscure athletes with limited resources, but their revelations showed the extent of abuse in South Korean sports, said Choi Dong-ho, director of the Center for Sports Culture research group.

Their accusations came amid a series of allegations of sexual and other abuses by coaches in disciplines ranging from skating to judo and taekwondo, including from double Olympic short track gold medallist Shim Suk-hee.

Double Olympic short track gold medallist Shim Suk-hee also accused coaches of abuse

While many South Koreans found the curlers' revelations shocking, verbal abuse, corruption and intrusive control were "nothing new" in the country's sports world, Choi told AFP.

"Abuse tends to be more prevalent in communities of little-known sports, as they are more close-knit and even isolated from the outside world," he added.

"I think people were shocked not necessarily because of what the curlers revealed, but because they were such unexpected stars at the Pyeongchang games -- so many Koreans were touched and felt proud because of them."

New generation

In the face of the growing #MeToo movement, the government in January announced an enquiry into sexual and other abuses in sport, and increased penalties for violators.

"We need to walk away from the winning-at-all-costs philosophy," said sports minister Do Jong-hwan.

But Yeo Jun-hyung, a former skating coach who now leads a group of activists against abuse in sports, cautioned that the issue might rapidly fade from public and media consciousness.

"That's the thing about sports" in South Korea, he said, "people forget about them when athletes are not on TV."

And Choi pointed out the campaign against abuse was initiated by the athletes themselves -- including the curlers -- rather than the authorities.

"Most Korean athletes in the past, many of whom work as coaches or sports officials today, shared this thinking that if you want to succeed in the sports field, you just have to endure everything -- even if it means being being beaten and cursed all the time," he said.

"But the new generation is saying that they are not going to put up with it anymore."

US lawmakers find more work needed to safeguard Olympians

Yahoo – AFP, Jim SLATER, Dec 20, 2018

Former US gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar's sexual abuse scandal has
sparked US lawmakers to recommend changes in how the US Olympic Committee
functions in order to better safeguard US Olympians (AFP Photo/RENA LAVERTY)

Washington (AFP) - American lawmakers made 15 recommendations to the US Olympic Committee on Thursday to better safeguard athletes from sexual abuse in the wake of the Larry Nassar gymnastics scandal.

Suggestions by the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee in its 133-page report included more USOC punishment options for 48 national sport governing bodies and open talk about sexual abuse without non-disclosure deals.

"Our year-long investigation revealed a number of breakdowns and failures in the system to protect athletes, including in how allegations of sexual misconduct have been handled by the national governing bodies and the US Olympic Committee," Representative committee chairman Greg Walden.

"While it's clear these organizations have made some strides, more work remains so that our athletes can finally feel safe and protected."

Nassar, a former US national gymnastics team doctor, was accused of sexual abuse by more than 200 women and was imprisoned for the rest of his life for molesting athletes, in many cases under the guise of treatment.

A report last week said top USOC officials concealed sexual abuse allegations against Nassar and made no effort to alert potential victims, with US Senator Jerry Moran calling for changes to the 1978 law giving the USOC control over national sport governing bodies.

In the wake of the scandal, as well as others involving sex abuse in taekwondo and swimming, a US Center for SafeSport (USCSS) was created.

But lawmakers urged greater action quickly before more athletes become victims.

"It is imperative that the USOC, NGBs (National Governing Bodies), and USCSS are proactive to ensure that their policies and procedures, above all else, prioritize athlete safety and are consistent, followed, and enforced," the report concluded.

New USOC chief executive officer Sarah Hirshland cited moves this year to empower athletes and better evaluate reforms needed to the USOC and the sports groups it governs.

"While we've only just begun to digest the recommendations, this report adds another significant source of information to ensure we understand areas in which the Olympic community failed athletes and meaningful actions we can take to ensure that athlete safety is our number one priority," new USOC chief executive officer Sarah Hirshland said.

"Sexual abuse, harassment and discrimination have no place in the US Olympic and Paralympic community and it's on all of us -– member organizations, institutions, and individuals alike -– to foster a healthy culture for competitive excellence.

"We will continue to do the work necessary to develop a healthy culture that keeps athletes safe and allows them to be their very best."

'More corruption' to find?

Rachael Denhollander, a former gymnast who was the first to accuse Nassar in public, told the Washington Post she would still not entrust a child to the USOC over inaction by leaders when alerted to Nassar's abuse.

"What is the motivation and why were they keeping quiet? There had to be some level of buy-in. I suspect when you find the motivation, you will find a lot more corruption," Denhollander said.

"It was never just about Larry Nassar and that's what so many people have missed. Larry became the story because of what happened at his sentencing and because he had so many victims. But Larry is not the story. Larry is just a symptom."

Lawmakers recommended more punishment options for governing body leaders other than defunding or decertifying organizations to avoid harming athletes and ensure consistent policies across all sports, including those for in-depth background checks and sharing information.

US Olympics chief resigns in wake of abuse scandal

Yahoo – AFP, Rob Woollard, February 28, 2018

United States Olympic Committee chief executive Scott Blackmun faced stinging
criticism for his handling of the case involving gymnastics team doctor Larry
Nassar (AFP Photo/Maxx Wolfson)

Los Angeles (AFP) - Embattled United States Olympic Committee chief executive Scott Blackmun has stepped down following calls for his resignation in the wake of the USA gymnastics abuse scandal, it was confirmed on Wednesday.

Blackmun, who faced stinging criticism for his handling of the case involving team doctor Larry Nassar which rocked the sport, departs after eight years in the role.

The 60-year-old administrator had recently disclosed he was battling prostate cancer.

"Given Scott's current health situation, we have mutually agreed it is in the best interest of both Scott and the USOC that we identify new leadership so that we can immediately address the urgent initiatives ahead of us," USOC Chairman Larry Probst said in a statement.

"The USOC is at a critical point in its history. The important work that Scott started needs to continue and will require especially vigorous attention in light of Larry Nassar’s decades-long abuse of athletes affiliated with USA Gymnastics."

USOC said board member Susanne Lyons would replace Blackmun as interim chief executive as the hunt for a permanent successor got under way.

Blackmun's departure comes after he had faced calls to resign for his alleged failure to act swiftly as the Nassar scandal unfolded, claims rejected by USOC.

Multiple US senators had demanded his resignation after a Wall Street Journal report that said USOC was made aware of allegations surrounding Nassar in 2015 yet did nothing to intervene.

USOC had defended Blackmun's handling of the case, with Probst telling reporters in Pyeongchang at the Winter Olympics this month that "he did what he was supposed to do and he did the right thing at every turn."

'They don't trust him'

Probst had initially ruled out any changes in personnel until an investigation ordered by USOC had determined who knew what and when, stating that Blackmun had "served USOC with distinction."

However the progress of that investigation was confronted by an immediate roadblock after it emerged last week that several of Nassar's victims had vowed not to co-operate, citing mistrust of USOC and Blackmun.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Olympic gymnasts including gold medallists Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney, had said they would opt out of the investigation.

"The athletes don’t want to participate," a lawyer for the gymnasts told the paper. "They don't trust the USOC, and they don't trust (Blackmun)."

Raisman, a prominent Blackmun critic, had questioned how committed USOC was to the investigation.

"For 31 months, I heard nothing," Raisman told the Journal. "I find it hard to believe after all this time that the USOC is genuinely concerned about anything other than the scrutiny it's now facing."

At least 265 female athletes, several of them Olympic gold medal gymnasts, claimed former US Olympic team doctor Nassar abused them over a period of two decades in the worst scandal in US Olympic history.

Nassar, 54, was last month sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison for his crimes after days of harrowing victim-impact testimony.

Blackmun had issued an apology in the wake of those court hearings after USOC failed to send a representative to attend.

"The USOC should have been there to hear it in person, and I am deeply sorry that did not happen," Blackmun said in an apology in January addressed to Nassar's victims.

Camiel Eurlings, under fire over domestic violence incident, resigns from IOC

DutchNews, January 5, 2018

Photo: Chris Keulen via Hollandse Hoogte 

The Dutch representative on the International Olympic Committee has resigned following mounting pressure from athletes and officials over a domestic violence incident in 2015. 

In a statement issued on Friday Eurlings, a former minister for the Christian Democrats and CEO of KLM Nederland, said he is standing down ‘in the interest of sport and sportsmen and women’. 

‘I sincerely regret what has happened,’ he said. ‘The discussion about whether or not I should stay on is taking attention away from sport and the athletes. That is why, with pain in my heart, I am resigning as IOC, member, the best volunteer job in the world.’ 

Eurlings has been the Dutch IOC representative since 2013. 

Critics called on him to rethink his position after he made a belated apology for the incident in mid 2015, in which he is said to have beaten up his girlfriend. She made a formal police complaint about the attack in December that year. 

Last March, Eurlings reached an out of court settlement with the public prosecution department without admittance of guilt but the issue has refused to go away. 

Dutch papers claimed that his girlfriend was left with a broken elbow, light concussion and bruising – and at one point he threatened legal action against the woman for slander.

Apology

Last week he issued a statement, headlined ‘public apology’ in which he admitted there was an ‘altercation’ between him and his ex girlfriend. 

‘The IOC has seen the file and deemed it a private matter,’ he said. ‘The ethical committee has reaffirmed this… nor did the settlement prevent me from obtaining a certificate of good behaviour (VOG).’ 

He also told the NRC newspaper that he had not had a community service sentence but had done a couple of days community work and that he did not have a criminal record. 

However, legal experts told the Volkskrant that Eurlings will have had a 40 hour community service sentence and that he will have, in effect, a police record resulting from the settlement. 

The IOC said in a statement: ‘Although we regret his decision, which is a personal one, we respect the step taken in the interests of the lOC, of the Olympic movement, and of all involved.’

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Dutch IOC member under pressure to quit over domestic violence incident

"The Great Escape" - Mar 11, 2017 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

“… The Fall of Many - Seen It Yet?

You are going to see more and more personal secrets being revealed about persons in high places of popularity or government. It will seem like an epidemic of non-integrity! But what is happening is exactly what we have been teaching. The new energy has light that will expose the darkness of things that are not commensurate with integrity. They have always been there, and they were kept from being seen by many who keep secrets in the dark. Seen the change yet?

In order to get to a more stable future, you will have to go through gyrations of dark and light. What this means is that the dark is going to be revealed and push back at you. It will eventually lose. We told you this. That's what you're here for is to help those around you who don't see an escape from the past. They didn't get their nuclear war, but everything else is going into the dumper anyway. … “

Brazil arrests Rio 2016 Olympic committee chairman on corruption charges

Yahoo – AFP, Carola SOLÉ, Oct 5, 2017

Brazil's Olympic Committee chief Carlos Nuzman (C) is escorted from his
home by federal police in Rio de Janeiro (AFP Photo/Mauro PIMENTEL)

Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - Brazilian police on Thursday arrested the chairman of the country's Olympic Committee as part of a probe into alleged vote buying to secure Rio's hosting of the 2016 Games.

Twenty federal police agents swept into Rio de Janeiro's upscale Leblon neighborhood in an early morning operation to arrest 75-year-old Carlos Nuzman.

The Rio 2016 committee's chief operating officer Leonardo Gryner was arrested in a separate raid.

A grim-faced Nuzman left his home wearing a dark business suit in the Rio heat as he was escorted by police.

The agents, who were operating on orders from a federal judge, also seized documents.

Nuzman and Gryner "will be charged with the crimes of corruption, money laundering and criminal association," police said in a statement.

Nuzman appeared relaxed and chatted with the agents as he entered the police station.

The men were sent to the Benefica prison in northern Rio, a police source told AFP.

With their detention, the vice president of Brazil's Olympic Committee, Paulo Wanderley, has temporarily taken charge of the body.

Assets increased 457%

The arrests are the latest in a widespread corruption scandal rocking Brazil that has ensnared many of the country's top political and business figures, and which often has links to abroad.

Brazil's Olympic Committee chief Carlos Nuzman (L), whom prosecutors say 

increased his assets by 457 percent in the past decade with no clear source for 

the new income, is escorted inside the federal police headquarters in Rio de

 Janeiro (AFP Photo/Mauro PIMENTEL)

It is "essential" that the suspects be detained "as a guarantee of public order" to allow their assets to be blocked, and to stop them from engaging in any criminal act or interfering with evidence, the Rio prosecutor's office said in a statement.

Prosecutors asked for some $319 million dollars in assets belonging to Nuzman and Gryner to be blocked.

Nuzman, who has headed Brazil's Olympic Committee since 1995, saw his assets increase 457 percent over the past decade with no clear source for the new income, prosecutors said.

Nuzman also tried to hide his wealth, often in foreign accounts, the statement read.

He only declared he owned 16 gold bars weighing one kilogram (2.2 pounds) each when he was questioned a month ago, prosecutors said.

'Unfair Play - Second Half'

Following an investigation dubbed "Unfair Play" that spanned several countries, Brazilian officials last month said Nuzman was the "lynchpin" in a plot to bribe the International Olympic Committee into awarding Rio de Janeiro last year's Games.

At the time, Nuzman was detained and questioned and authorities confiscated his passport.

Investigators also searched the offices of Brazil's Olympic Committee and several companies suspected of links to the scandal.

Thursday's operation in Rio was dubbed "Unfair Play - Second Half."

Authorities allege that former Rio governor Sergio Cabral, who is serving a 14-year prison term for bribery and money laundering, was the mastermind of the plot, which saw $2 million in bribes paid to Papa Massata Diack, the son of Senegalese IOC member Lamine Diack, before the 2009 vote.

Leonardo Gryner, the chief executive officer of the Rio 2016 organizing committee, 

pictured in 2012, has been arrested and faces charges of corruption, money 

laundering and criminal association (AFP Photo/WILL OLIVER)

Businessman Arturo Soares, known as "King Arthur," a top contractor for Cabral's administration, allegedly delivered the payment three days before the IOC vote in Copenhagen in October 2009. Rio beat bids from Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo to host the 2016 games.

Honorary IOC member

Rio prosecutors say they have new information conclusively showing how the payments were made. In their statement they cite an email from Papa Massata directly asking Nuzman for help with "the final process," and an email discussing difficulties in bank transfers.

Rio 2016 was credited with being a sporting and organizational success, but revelations of massive corruption during the preparations and now even in the awarding of the Games have tarnished the legacy.

The latest scandal cast a pall over an IOC meeting in Lima last month following the designation of Paris for the 2024 Games and Los Angeles as the 2028 host city.

IOC President Thomas Bach was asked at the time about Nuzman's role in the organization as an honorary member. Bach pledged the IOC's cooperation, but noted that there are limits to any sports organization's powers of investigation.

Ban Ki-moon, chief of the IOC's ethics commission, on Thursday also pledged cooperation and asked Brazilian authorities to supply all the available information on the case.

"Given the new facts, the IOC Ethics Commission may consider provisional measures while respecting Mr Nuzman’s right to be heard," the IOC said in a statement.

The group "will not comment further on this matter until a recommendation is issued by the IOC Ethics Commission," and it "reiterates that the presumption of innocence prevails."

India sports minister draws flak over Rio entourage behaviour

Yahoo – AFP, August 12, 2016

India's sports minister Vijay Goel attends a Rio Olympics press conference in
New Delhi on July 25, 2016 (AFP Photo/Sajjad Hussain)

New Delhi (AFP) - India's sports minister drew widespread criticism Friday after the organisers of the Rio Olympics reportedly accused his entourage of "aggressive and rude" behaviour at the Games and threatened to cancel his accreditation.

The Rio organising committee said it had received multiple reports of Vijay Goel trying to get unaccredited people accompanying him into Olympic venues.

"We have had multiple reports of your minister for sports trying to enter accredited areas at venues with unaccredited individuals," the Press Trust of India news agency quoted committee manager Sarah Peterson as saying in a letter to India's chef de mission Rakesh Gupta.

"When the staff try to explain that this is not allowed, they report that the people with the minister have become aggressive and rude and sometimes push past our staff," she said.

"Should our protocol team be made aware of further examples of this type of behaviour, the accreditation of your minister for sports will be cancelled and his privileges at the Olympic Games withdrawn."

Goel has denied any wrongdoing, saying it was a "misunderstanding".

"What is being said is that my staff may have done something wrong, but I am not aware of this or any misbehaviour. Nothing is being said about me, it is about my staff," he told the NDTV news network in Rio.

But the charge has led to an outpouring of anger on social media in India, where politicians are frequently accused of abusing their position to skip queues or zip through traffic in their official cars.

"Sad to see our ministers carrying the 'do you know who I am?' attitude to Rio Olympics," said one Twitter user, Karun Chandhok.

"Finally, India has won a medal at Rio Olympics. It's for lunatic behaviour. Thank you sports minister," tweeted another.

The Indian Express newspaper meanwhile accused Goel of spending his time in Rio taking selfies with "exhausted Indian athletes".

India has sent a 118-strong contingent to Rio, its largest ever for an Olympic Games, and the sports ministry has set a target of 10 medals.

But athletes complain of substandard training facilities and a lack of government investment in sport in a country that has enjoyed two decades of rapid economic development and has a booming population of 1.25 billion.

IOC wants Lance's medal back

iafrica.com, AFP, 17 Jan 2013

US cyclist Lance Armstrong. AFP

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Thursday asked disgraced American cyclist Lance Armstrong to return the Olympic bronze medal from the time-trial event at the 2000 Games in Sydney.

The IOC had written to Armstrong late Wednesday to ask him hand back the medal, IOC spokesman Mark Adams told AFP.

The IOC had to wait for world cycling's governing body to sanction Armstrong, which it did on December 6, and the following three weeks in which the Texan had recourse to appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

The US Olympic Committee, to which Armstrong must theoretically return the medal, has also been informed, Adams added.

Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned from the sport for life in October after the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) produced evidence of widespread doping by him and his former team-mates.

The time-trial in the 2000 Games was won by Armstrong's ex-US Postal Service teammate Viasheslav Ekimov of Russia, now general manager of the Katusha team whose ambivalent stance on doping cost them a place in the elite ProTeam list for this season.

The silver medal went to one of Armstrong's great rivals, Jan Ullrich of Germany, who was caught up in the Operation Puerto doping probe and eventually served a two-year ban for doping.

Abraham Olano of Spain came home in fourth and may be set to inherit the bronze vacated by Armstrong.

Other notable results in the race held in Sydney were by American Tyler Hamilton, a former teammate of Armstrong at US Postal who finished tenth and went on to win gold at the 2004 Athens Games before testing positive for doping.

British rider David Millar finished 16th and is still currently on the circuit after serving his own two-year ban from 2004.

The International Cycling Union (UCI) late last year effectively erased Armstrong from the cycling history books when it decided not to appeal sanctions imposed on the Texan rider by the USADA.

In his first interview since Armstrong was shorn of his Tour titles, recorded Monday with Oprah Winfrey and due to be broadcast on Thursday and Friday, the chat show host confirmed that the Texan admitted using performance-enhancing drugs.

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Extra scrutiny for Paralympic TV deals

BBC News, 10 September 2012

The USA beat Great Britain to the bronze medal in wheelchair basketball

Related Stories 

• Paralympics close in fiery finale
• London 2012: How the world saw the Paralympics
• London 2012 'biggest US TV event'

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is to scrutinise potential broadcasting partners more carefully in future after US rights holders NBC failed to show any live 2012 action.

NBC scheduled four hour-long highlights programmes on the NBC Sports channel, followed by one 90-minute round-up.

IPC president Sir Philip Craven said of future media partners: "We'll examine their values as they will examine ours.

"If the values fit, we've got a chance. If they don't we'll go somewhere else."

The London 2012 Paralympic Games ended on Sunday with a spectacular closing ceremony featuring performances from Coldplay, Rihanna and Jay-Z.

Channel 4 aired 400 hours of Paralympic coverage in the UK, while Australia's ABC screened more than 100 hours.

In Japan viewers had a nightly one-hour highlights programme. Its capital Tokyo is bidding to host the 2020 Games.

NBC did not show any live action and its 90-minute round-up programme will not be broadcast until 16 September.

Yet the broadcaster said the total of five-and-a-half hours represented an improvement on the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing, when viewers got a single 90-minute highlights package.

"The people of the USA, for example, particularly the parents and families of the athletes, they are all ready for Paralympic sport," Sir Philip added.

"Take the plunge, take the risk and then you'll succeed."

NBC said its coverage of the London 2012 Olympic Games was the "most-watched television event in US history", with 219 million people watching over the duration of the event.

But it drew criticism for delaying the broadcast of popular events until prime time hours.

Viewers also complained of problems with online streaming and edited versions of the opening and closing ceremonies.

Olympics-Athletics-Choose trainers not guns, says Barrondo

Reuters, by Neil Maidment, LONDON, Sat Aug 4, 2012

Aug 4 (Reuters) - Erick Barrondo walked into Guatemala's history books on Saturday as its first Olympic medal winner and said he hoped the magic of the moment would help his countrymen back home pick up trainers in future instead of guns.

"It's well known that Guatemala has problems with guns and knives," Barrondo said after finishing second in the men's 20km race walk, which took in the sights of Buckingham Palace.

"I hope that this medal inspires the kids at home to put down guns and knives and pick up a pair of trainers instead. If they do that, I will be the happiest guy in the world."

The 21-year-old, whose parents were both middle distance runners, even broke away from journalists' questions to take a call from Guatemala's president, Otto Perez Molina.

"The president congratulated me on the first Olympic medal for the country. He told me that everyone had come out on the streets to celebrate the triumph," said Barrondo, who finished 11 seconds behind China's Chen Ding.

"It was a glorious day for me, but the glory is most of all for my country," he added.

In a day of firsts in London the race was won by Chen, who together with his third placed compatriot Wang Zhen were the first Chinese men to win an Olympic medal in a race walking event.

Barrondo, who finished 10th in last year's 20km race walk final at the world championships in Daegu, worked hard to stay in contention among a Chinese and Russian dominated leading pack before breaking away to split China's duo on the final stretch.

(Reporting by Neil Maidment; editing by Michael Holden)

Erick Barrondo of Guatemala as he crossed the finish

 line in London on Saturday. (Markus Schreiber/

Associated Press)

Related Article

At Last, a Medal for Guatemala