Former Olympic speedskater Joey Cheek had his visa revoked by Chinese authorities Wednesday, hours before he was set to travel to Beijing to urge the Chinese government to help make peace in the war-torn Darfur section of Sudan.
Cheek, the president and co-founder of a collection of Olympic athletes known as Team Darfur, was planning to spend about two weeks in China, when he received an unexpected call from authorities.
He said they told him they didn't have to have a reason to deny him entrance into the country.
"I didn't see it coming," Cheek said. "I figured once they gave me a visa, I wouldn't imagine the wouldn't allow me to come in later. That was a big shock. I wasn't expecting to get a call the evening before I was leaving for Beijing."
One of Cheek's key initiatives was urging the international community to persuade Sudan to observe the ancient tradition of the Olympic truce during the Beijing Games.
More than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced in fighting in the western Sudanese region since ethnic African tribesmen took up arms in 2003.
The Olympic truce dates to the ancient games in Greece, when fighting was halted to ensure athletes had safe passage to travel to and from the competitions. Attempts to revive the truce in modern times have met with only modest success, most notably in the Balkans during the 1992 and 1994 Games.
Cheek said he has been upset by China's treatment of athletes involved in his cause and thinks the Interntional Olympic Committee's rules that prohibit political protest go against the spirit of the games.
"I've been pretty unimpressed with the IOC's efforts in protecting athletes, for giving them any options," Cheek said.
He said he has been greeted warmly on his previous trips to China.
"I don't begrudge them the Olympics, I think they'll do well with them," Cheek said. "But there are so many of their government's policies that I find repulsive, especially for athletes who have no intention but to help someone else."
