A vast majority of Australian athletes believe messages of personal or political protest should not be delivered in Olympic competition or on the medallists' podium, a survey conducted by the country's athletes' commission said on Friday.
More than 80 percent of 496 respondents said protesting on the field of play would "detract from the performance or experience of athletes," according to the survey by the Australian Olympic Committee's Athletes' Commission.
The survey comes amid growing calls on the International Olympic Committee to ease restrictions on protests with other sports organizations allowing athletes to express on-field solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement in a time of global anti-racism demonstrations following George Floyd's death in police custody in May.