Olympics supremo Jacques Rogge’s injunction to athletes to refrain from political comment appears to be falling on deaf ears.

Forty athletes, some of them current Olympians (including one from Cuba!), are reported to have signed an open letter to the Chinese government condemning the regime’s human rights record. The BBC quotes British basketball star John Amaechi:

“To me it is remarkable that we want to say athletes should shut up and just play. In everyday context they are good enough to tell us what cereals to eat, what shoes to wear, about anti-obesity or whatever, but when it comes to a fundamental tenet of human rights, somehow they are not good enough. If we want them to be holistic role models, then let’s let them be holistic role models.”

“The legacy of most elite athletes is to be completely vanilla. I played basketball for many years and the idea that my legacy to this world is putting a ball in a hole is unsatisfactory to me. If people are satisfied they can play a great forehand volley or make a birdie from a bunker – if that’s enough for them, then I cannot comment. But it is not enough of a legacy when the opportunity to change the world is in your grasp.”

I salute this true sporting hero and holistic role model!

So who in this year’s “Team GB” is prepared to speak out like Amaechi and tell it like it is?

This could be a very interesting Olympic Games.