American Olympians confront China’s human rights abuses
Team USA figure skaters Evan Bates, Nathan Chen and Vincent Zhou along with Team USA luger Tucker West give their thoughts on boycotting the Olympics over China's policies.
Video Transcript
EVAN BATES: You know a lot of people want to say, why don't the athletes boycott the games? And I think, speaking on behalf of all the athletes, I can say human rights violations are abysmal. And we all believe that it's really, it tears the fabric of humanity. But I think, to boycott the games would be to not take the opportunity to shed light on this topic.
And so we're here and we will field the question and speak about how important it is to come together and to represent the Olympic movement, which is all about togetherness and humanity, and representing the best of what sport offers, and lifting each other up and participating and in trying your best and, even if you don't win you still succeed.
And I think those are the most beautiful things about what it is to be human. And to boycott the games would be, I don't think the right move because we wouldn't be able to talk about what is so great about the Olympics and what is so special about being an Olympian.
NATHAN CHEN: I agree with what Evan was saying. And I think that for a greater change to occur, there must be power that is beyond the Olympics. It has to be like change at a remarkable scale.
VINCENT ZHOU: As athletes, we still retain our humanity. Obviously, we heard what Evan said too. We echo his sentiment. As athletes and Olympic, hopeful Olympic athletes in 2022, our job is to go into the competition completely focused on ourselves.
And I think that having concerns about things going on in the political climate or elsewhere is important, but not productive towards our primary goal as representatives of Team USA competing on the world's greatest athletic stage at the Olympics. So we echo Evan's sentiment and definitely would still like to focus on our own jobs.
TUCKER WEST: No. I don't think it's a bad thing that an athlete can take a stance. I think athletes have a voice and why not use them? We're all humans. And I think every human deserves to be treated equally with respect and dignity and fairness.