How the IOC is Ruining the Olympic Spirit

This is Kate Grace. If you have been watching the Track & Field Olympic Trials, you may have noticed she won the women's 800m in 1:59.10. I mean, we can do that...on our bike...maybe. But that's not the point. See, Kate is sponsored by Oiselle. They've supported her financially and emotionally through her training and now she's going to the Olympics! And Oiselle should be able to scream in support all over their social media and web pages right?! Wrong. The Olympic Committee recently threatened to sue Oiselle if they did not delete their pictures on their social media accounts on Kate Grace winning the 800m. This doesn't just apply to Oiselle, it applys to all athletes' sponsors that do not pay the Olympic Committee big bucks.

The International Olympic Committee has what is called Rule 40. It's all about advertising and how the Olympic Committee can get as much money as possible. To sum it up, if you pay the Olympic Committee lots and lots of money, you can advertise for your athlete at the Olympic games. If you don't pay the Olympic committee, you can't advertise, publicly support/cheer for your sponsored athlete. What this can't be what it seems? Well...it's exactly what it seems.

So during the blackout period (July 27-August 24), we'll us Oiselle and Kate Grace as an example, Oiselle cannot publicly advertise Kate Grace and her journey to Rio.

So above I have pasted the Rule 40 from the IOC's page (link can be found at end of post). Still using Oiselle as an example, they literally cannot use any of the words in the boxes above. If Kate Grace were to win the Olympic 800m, not only could Oiselle not congratulate Kate publicly, Kate could not publicly thank Oiselle! Now, how is this enforced you might ask? Well we're not entirely sure. I'm guessing it will be through stripping of medals/lawsuits, etc. Now this doesn't apply to the average joe blow, just sponsors who pay and support their athletes, but not the IOC.

Look at the language Sally with Oiselle has to use in the above post. To follow Rule 40 she has to say "the Big Event in the Southern Hemisphere" aka The Olympics in Rio. So, at this year's Olympics, if you post about your favorite athlete, make sure to include the sponsor that has supported them all along. This bullying has to end.

Rule 40: https://stillmed.olympic.org/media/Document%20Library/OlympicOrg/IOC/What-We-Do/Protecting-Clean-Athletes/Athletes-Space/Rule-40-Rio-2016-QA-for-Athletes.pdf

Article on Explanation of Rule 40:
http://www.oiselle.com/blog/birds-eye-view-rule-40-explained?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=boost&utm_campaign=blog+rule+40+explained+032116