NOlympics LA

NOlympics LA is a coalition of community organizations that opposes staging the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

The group formed in 2017 in the Democratic Socialists of America and includes Black Lives Matter, LA Tenants Union, Sunrise Movement and others.[1][2] The original members included Molly Lambert.[3]

On May 12, 2021, NOlympics LA disrupted an International Olympic Committee (IOC) press conference in Tokyo, Japan. A representative of the group posing as journalist "David O'Brien from Yahoo" held a banner that read "No Olympics in Tokyo 2020" and chanted until the feed was cut.[4][5][6][7] The video has since been deleted from the IOC's YouTube channel.[8]

On July 19, 2022, NOlympics LA disrupted a press conference at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in which Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and IOC President Thomas Bach announced the official dates of the 2028 Summer Olympics. The protester shouted about tenants facing eviction near the coliseum and was removed by security, continuing to yell into the event from the fence outside.[9][10]

Jules Boykoff's book NOlympians: Inside the Fight Against Capitalist Mega-Sports in Los Angeles, Tokyo and Beyond focuses on NOlympics LA's efforts, from the group's formation to its participation in an anti-Olympics summit in Tokyo, Japan, one year before the 2020 Summer Olympics were scheduled to take place.[11][12] The book is based on more than 100 interviews with anti-Olympics activists, personal experiences, and archival research.[13]

References

  1. ^ "Meet Los Angeles's New Anti-Olympics Movement". Vice. May 9, 2017. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  2. ^ "Our Partners". NOlympics LA. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  3. ^ Lambert, Molly (August 8, 2019). "The Fight Against The Los Angeles Olympics Isn't Over Yet". Deadspin. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
  4. ^ Schad, Tom. "Anti-Olympics protester crashes International Olympic Committee news conference". USA Today. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
  5. ^ Ingle, Sean. "IOC say Olympics will go ahead despite Tokyo state of emergency being extended". The Irish Times. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
  6. ^ "Tokyo Olympics 'moving fully ahead' as protester disrupts press conference". The Guardian. May 12, 2021. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  7. ^ "IOC: Tokyo Games to go on despite protests". ESPN.com. May 12, 2021. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  8. ^ "Tokyo Olympics: Protester gatecrashes IOC online press conference". Sky Sports. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  9. ^ Zirin, Dave; Boykoff, Jules (July 19, 2022). "Organizers Don't Care That the 2028 Olympics Could Be On Fire". ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  10. ^ Wharton, David (July 18, 2022). "Southern California is on the clock: Dates are announced for 2028 L.A. Olympics". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  11. ^ Ganseforth, Sonja (January 2, 2023). "Protesting legacies: Anti-Olympic movements in Japan before and after Tokyo 2020/1". Contemporary Japan. 35 (1): 94–116. doi:10.1080/18692729.2023.2171953. ISSN 1869-2729. S2CID 258313154.
  12. ^ Ichii, Yoshifusa (January 2, 2023). "The capitalist realism of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic games". Contemporary Japan. 35 (1): 58–72. doi:10.1080/18692729.2023.2171717. ISSN 1869-2729.
  13. ^ Boykoff, Jules (April 2020). NOlympians: Inside the Fight Against Capitalist Mega-Sports in Los Angeles, Tokyo and Beyond. Fernwood Publishing. ISBN 978-1-77363-276-6.