(ATR) After stumbling for two days over the uncertainty of whether a U.S. team will travel to the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, the White House Thursday assured the U.S. will be there.
Ambiguous comments from the U.S. amabassador to the U.N. and then Preisdent Donald Trump’s press secretary set the phones ringing at the U.S. Olympic Committee. NOCs from around the globe as well as media wanted to know if the USOC had other plans than Pyeongchang next February.
On Tuesday Nikki Haley, U.S. ambassador the the U.N.got the ball of confusion rolling in a TV interviewer when asked about U.S. participation in the Olympics and the tensions over North Korea nuclear weapons.
"That’s on open question," Nikki Haley replied. "I have not heard anything about that, but I do know that in the talks that we have — whether it’s Jerusalem, whether it’s North Korea — it’s about, how do we protect the U.S. citizens in the area?"
The flood of inquiries triggered by Haley’s remarks prompted a response from the USOC.
"We have not had any discussions, either internally or with our government partners, about the possibility of not taking teams to the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games," said spokesman Mark Jones.
"We plan on supporting two full delegations in Pyeongchang," he said.
Thursday White House Press Secretary Sara Sanders Huckabee seemed to dial that back when she said "no final decision" has been made on the question of a U.S. team to the Games in Korea. Answering a question during the daily news briefing, Huckabee likewise spoke as if government okay would be needed for U.S. Olympians and Paralympians to travel to South Korea next February and March.
Ever since the debacle of 1980 when Jimmy Carter ordered the US team to stay home from the Moscow Olympics, there’s not been a whiff of any attempts to meddle with the U.S. Olympic team by the White House.
But minutes after she left the podium, Sanders took to twitter to clarify her Olympic comments.
"The U.S. looks forward to participating in the Winter Olympics in South Korea. The protection of Americans is our top priority and we are engaged with the South Koreans and other partner nations to secure the venues."
Two weeks ago, the White House acknowledged that it was working on assembling the official delegation to represent the U.S. at the ceremonies for the 2018 Olympics and Paralympics.
The USOC has no added comment at this time but the nervous response to the unclear communications from the White House is expected to receive attention Friday when the USOC Board of Directors meets in New York City.
Even with high tensions over North Korea and the need to watch over a U.S. Olympic team, President Trump has yet to name a diplomat as ambassador to South Korea. That is unlikely to change before the Olympics.
Written and reported in Lausanne by Ed Hula.
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