February 14, 2006

Taking a Stand in Turin

Okay, so it's not quite like when Tommie Smith and John Carlos put up the black power fist on the podium during the 1968 Mexico City games, but I still think this is pretty goddamn sweet.
Joey Cheek, after winning the 500-meter speedskating sprint by an absurd margin, declared that he was giving away his $25,000 prize to a charity to help children in Darfur. Cheek's decision was motivated by his idol, Johann Olav Koss, who won three golds in Lilehammer and later founded the "Right to Play" charity for displaced refugees in Chad. Cheek then challenged his sponsors to match his donation, and pledged to visit Darfur after the Olympics.
You can check out Cheek's victory on google video.
Cheek, who is 26 years old, also announced that he will be retiring after this season, and plans on reapplying to Harvard, who rejected him about 10 years ago, to study economics.

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