/ Olympics 2006

Iranian judo champion pulls out of Games rather than compete against Israeli

August 15, 2004

By KEVIN B. BLACKISTONE / The Dallas Morning News

ATHENS, Greece – Tommie Smith and John Carlos didn't plan at first to protest the treatment of people of color and poor in the United States by punching Mexico City's nighttime sky with black-gloved fists. They were going to stay away from the '68 Summer Games altogether, heeding the call of their political guru, Harry Edwards, to boycott.

That was until they listened to an appeal from Stan Wright, who was also black and the assistant men's track coach for the U.S. Olympic team at the time.

Wright, who was a legendary track coach at Texas Southern in Houston, told the young sprinters that he concurred with their concerns but thought there was a more effective way to voice them. He suggested they'd make more of a splash from the victory podium before countless witnesses.

Wright didn't prove wrong, of course. The protest of Smith and Carlos remains one of the most memorable moments in sports, let alone the Olympics, as well as civil rights. They were seen and heard by millions around the world, immortalized in photo.

Arash Miresmaeili of Iran will not be. Judo's world champion at 146 pounds didn't learn the lesson of Smith and Carlos.

He opted Saturday to protest the plight of his Arab brethren in Israel, the Palestinians, by pulling out of his opening match scheduled today against Ehud Vaks because Vaks is Israeli. Miresmaeili is out of the 2004 Games.

"I refused to fight my Israeli opponent to sympathize with the suffering of the people of Palestine, and I do not feel upset at all," the gold-medal favorite was quoted by IRNA news agency.

Yeah, I know. Good riddance, you say. Politics shouldn't be a part of sports anyway, and especially at the Olympics.

Well, politics always have been a part of sports, whether you go back to the 19th-century decision by professional baseball's founding fathers to kick out black Americans, or the kidnapping and murder of Israeli athletes by Palestinian extremists at the '72 Munich Games, or the decision by President Jimmy Carter to keep the '80 U.S. Olympic team from going to Moscow.

And politics will continue to be a part of sports, especially at the Olympics. The Games just let Afghanistan play again because it opened its team to women. The 202 teams that marched into Athens' Olympic Stadium on Friday night did so not behind cute nicknames, but beneath banners and with colors touting their nationality. Iran's flag bearer? He was Miresmaeili.

Although the U.S. government sees Israel otherwise, Israel is viewed as a foe in many parts of the world, and certainly in its home region. An Israeli stamp in a passport can disqualify a traveler from admittance to some of Israel's neighbors.

By standing up for the people he believes are oppressed in Gaza and the West Bank, Miresmaeili no doubt added to his celebrity back in Iran, where he is his country's first judo world titlist. Other Arab athletes have protested against Israel by walking out of contests that pitted them against Israelis, and some of them have been celebrated back in their homes.

Saudi table tennis player Nabeel Al-Magahwi refused to come to the table at the 2003 world championships because an Israeli, Gay Elensky, awaited him. Al-Magahwi was banned for a year by his sport's international federation, but became a national hero back in Saudi Arabia.

"It was very touching when an old lady from Palestine, who had lived in Paris for most of her life, called me and told me that she and her people feel proud of the stance I took," Agence France-Presse quoted Al-Magahwi on Saturday.

Another Iranian news agency Saturday quoted the head of Iran's judo federation, Mohammad Derakhshan, saying Miresmaeili should still receive the one billion rials (Iranian currency) promised Iranian Olympic medal winners.

"Miresmaeili must receive a special prize as he was a prime candidate for a gold medal," the judo boss said.

But what of the people Miresmaeili intended to champion? What will they get now? Did Miresmaeili accomplish his goal of helping their plight? Does anyone hear a protest in absence?

Stan Wright didn't think so.

"If John and Tommie hadn't gone," U.S. Olympic great Ralph Boston told me upon Wright's death in 1998, "they'd be just two faceless people."

And, quite possibly, Muhammad Ali's right to fight may not have been restored, apartheid South Africa may not have been banned from many competitions, and the International Olympic Committee may not have integrated with black members.

Arash Miresmaeili did his cause and the history of human rights' struggles at the Olympics a disservice. What if Jesse Owens hadn't run before the Fuhrer?

E-mail kblackistone@dallasnews.com