Olympics on tight timeline to chart new path on protest

UNDATED (AP)- The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s decision not to punish athletes who raise fists on the medal stand was met with a tepid response from the IOC. The Olympic organization is looking for solutions to its much-maligned Rule 50 that bars protests inside the lines at the games. But it does so knowing that many of its 206 countries don’t hold the same concerns about social injustice or freedom of speech as the United States. China, for instance, plays a major role in the Olympics. It hosted the 2008 Games and will host the Winter version in 2022. The leader of the USOPC, Sarah Hirshland, says she knows things could be rocky for a while but the move puts her federation on the right side of history.