Richard Vaughan is a Badminton player from the United Kingdom. He competed for his home country in the 2004 Olympics and is now training for the Beijing Olympics. If Team Darfur had an "athlete of the week," it would definitely be Richard Vaughan!
The quote by Vaughan below spawned a much needed discussion on if Olympic Committees have the right to censor athletes. Many news sources around the world have picked up this story and we are very thankful for Richard taking a stand to open this dialogue:
"As an athlete that has studied International politics and will compete in Beijing in 2008, I think it is crucial that we challenge China to uphold the Olympic spirit by defending human rights at a global level. It's a complicated issue in Sudan and as such people do not quite understand the significance of what is going on. The people of Darfur have been openly persecuted and the conflict has cost the lives of 200,000 people. While many nations have tried to isolate Sudan by breaking economic ties, China has significantly backed the government of Sudan with trade particularly in oil. It has major influence in Sudan and could help to end the suffering of millions of people affected by the conflict in the Darfur region. I appreciate it's a difficult position for the British Olympic Committee, but it's very difficult to keep a polite silence about a conflict that continues to cost so many lives. In the spirit of the Games, I would ask China as all nations to help Darfur, so that athletes can compete safe in the knowledge that everything is being done to stop the conflict."
