ABOVE: Australian snowboarder Torah Bright would wear the above symbol in honour of her friend, fallen snowboarder Sarah Burke – until the IOC told her they considered the sticker a “political statement”
TORONTO – The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said Monday competitions are not the right place to honour Sarah Burke.
“We have huge sympathy and she (Burke) really needs to be well remembered,” said Mark Adams, IOC spokesperson. “The competitions themselves, which are a place of celebration, are probably not the right place in our opinion, to do that and we like to keep that separate.”
READ MORE: Olympic snowboarders told they cannot honour Sarah Burke during competition
Adams said the IOC would help organize another event or press conference to honour the Canadian.
On Friday, Australian snowboarder Torah Bright posted a Instagram photo of a sticker that she said she always rides with.
“I am also here to honour my great friend Sarah Burke who left this world two years ago,” the message reads. “I ride with a Sarah sticker on my snowboard and helmet always.”
According to the Australian snowboarder, the IOC considers the memorial stickers as a “political statement.”
According to Rule 50 of the IOC’s Olympic Charter says, “No form of publicity or propaganda, commercial or otherwise, may appear on persons, on sportswear, accessories or, more generally, on any article of clothing or equipment whatsoever worn or used by the athletes or other participants in the Olympic Games…”
“It’s not the rule that’s really important at all, actually, in cases like this, rules are not the most important,” said Adams. “For us, it’s a question of what’s appropriate.”
WATCH: IOC spokesperson explains why Olympic games are “not the right place” to honour Burke
Burke died from injuries sustained during a training event in 2012.
Burke, a four-time X-Games champion, was a key figure in bringing halfpipe and slopestyle skiing event to the Olympic program.
Meanwhile, the IOC also sent a letter to the Norwegian Olympic Committee after its female cross-country skiers wore black armbands Saturday in honour of a teammate’s brother, who died on the eve of the Sochi Games.
Adams did not give details of the IOC letter, saying that was “the end of the matter.”
WATCH: Simcoe North MP Bruce Stanton rose Monday in the House of Commons to congratulate Canada’s female slopestyle skiers, as well as pay tribute to Sarah Burke
–with a file from Global News’ Amy Judd and the Associated Press.
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