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“In my opinion, it’s a small antithetic to the satellite championships and different events similar that wherever determination person been protests successful the past. Protests arsenic we cognize tin pb to favoritism and different issues and tin incite violence. It’s thing that anyone needs to beryllium precise cautious about.
“I judge the IOC has their ain rules successful respect to that. The athletes whitethorn oregon whitethorn not adhere to those rules.”
Australia’s Mack Horton refused to stock the podium with Sun Yang astatine the 2019 satellite championships.Credit: AP
Asked if helium would talk to athletes astir the anticipation of protests, Woodhouse said: “I won’t beryllium saying thing to the swimmers successful that regard. We really haven’t discussed that astatine our high-performance level.”
Mack Horton famously protested connected the medal podium astatine the 2019 satellite championships aft China’s Sun Yang returned from a affirmative cause test.
The International Olympic Committee has strict rules that authorities athletes cannot enactment successful demonstrations connected the tract of play, during medal ceremonies, successful the athletes colony oregon during the opening and closing ceremonies.
Three years agone successful Tokyo, rules were relaxed somewhat to let athletes to “express their views” earlier the commencement of competition.
“My archetypal meetings with AOC [Australian Olympic Committee] are really adjacent week but I don’t ideate it’d beryllium connected the docket but it mightiness be,” Woodhouse said. “I’d beryllium funny to perceive their views and we’ll instrumentality them connected committee of course, but I don’t deliberation that they would beryllium doing that [telling athletes not to protest].”
Australia’s swimmers are focused connected their grooming up of trials from June 10 to 15 but erstwhile connected the Olympic squad mightiness deliberation much astir what happens erstwhile they get successful Paris and contention against the Chinese.
Reigning golden medallist Zac Stubblety-Cook mislaid his 200m breaststroke satellite grounds past twelvemonth to China’s Qin Haiyang, who tested affirmative to TMZ successful 2021 but was cleared to support competing.
Woodhouse welcomed WADA’s announcement of an autarkic probe that volition analyse the lawsuit aft wide backlash from athletes and anti-doping agencies.
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“It’s just to accidental determination is decidedly disappointment and immoderate choler from athletes, not conscionable present successful Australia, but astir the world,” Woodhouse said. “We person astir apt seen athletes from elsewhere successful the satellite beryllium a spot much vocal astir it.
“There’s astir apt a premix of immoderate athletes who are ignoring it due to the fact that each the athletes person a beauteous dense absorption connected what’s going to hap adjacent month. They privation to beryllium concentrating connected that. They don’t privation this contented dominating their thoughts oregon preparation.
“Representing the athletes … [we person done what] we judge is taking the close steps successful presumption of initially calling for accusation and asking for WADA and the assorted authorities to supply that information.
“The bigger, longer-term propulsion for america ... is for that telephone for greater transparency successful these sorts of cases. Without that, if issues similar this popular up from clip to time, people athletes are conscionable going to get fed up with it.”
Woodhouse, who is the uncle of Australia’s astir decorated Olympian, Emma McKeon, said helium was thrilled to instrumentality connected the relation of CEO.
“I’ve had a palmy vocation successful concern but it’s been revolved astir the sport,” Woodhouse said. “I’ve worked with swimmers [as an agent] and successful swimming that full clip and besides successful media … since I retired from swimming myself. It was a beauteous earthy happening to travel back.
“From what I saw and work and heard of immoderate of the issues wrong the athletics present successful Australia … I deliberation I tin marque a important quality and marque a contribution. There’s astir apt immoderate skeletons and immoderate issues that person happened successful the past but for me, it’s each astir learning from them.”
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