Athletes demand vaccinations for everyone

This initiative is unprecedented. The International Olympic Committee has brought together more than two dozen athletes from around the world, both Olympic and Paralympic athletes, in a video calling on international leaders and decision makers to ensure free and equitable access to vaccines against COVID-19. Released on Tuesday, January 11, less than four weeks before the 2022 Beijing Winter Games open, the video shows five members of the IOC’s Athletes Committee: Italian swimmer Federica Pellegrini, South Korean table tennis player Seung-Min Ryu, and basketball player Hispanic. Pau Gasol, Polish cyclist Maya Martina Wołszyczowska, and Kenyan rugby player Humphrey Kayang. Other speakers selected by the Olympic Committee include New Zealand batsman Valerie Adams, British triathlete Alistair Brownlee, Italian high jumper Gianmarco Tampere, or Belgian athlete Jonathan Burley. Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee and Olympic medalist fencer, joined the movement to also intervene in the video. In their letter, the athletes call very solemnly “Governments, foundations, philanthropists, health organizations and social institutions come together to provide free and equal access to vaccines around the worldThey fit the new Olympic motto adopted last summer on the sidelines of the Tokyo Games – higher, faster, stronger, together – by stating:We are stronger together when we stand together and take care of each other. “