American athletes are planning podium protests at the Olympics to express anger at the presence of Russian athletes if they win medals at next summer.
A number of leading US stars have held talks in the last few days to discuss how they can register their dissatisfaction at Monday’s decision by the World Anti-Doping Agency to allow Russian athletes to compete as neutrals in Tokyo, despite their country serving a four-year ban for doping offences.
While some athletes have advocated speaking out publicly against Russian involvement and using social media platforms to highlight the issue others are prepared to make a symbolic protest on the podium at the Olympics, which would put them at risk of being sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee and the American authorities.
