Mao pins worn by Chinese athletes may test Olympic rules

Bao Shanju, left, and Zhong Tianshi , of China, celebrate their gold medals during a ceremony for the track cycling women’s team sprint finals at the 2020 Summer Olympics (Christophe Ena/AP)

The image of Communist China’s founding leader, Mao Zedong, made an unscheduled appearance at the Tokyo Olympics, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Tuesday it is “looking into the matter”.

The gesture — Mao pin badges worn by two Chinese gold medallists at their medal ceremony — risks being judged a breach of Olympic Charter Rule 50, which prohibits political statements on the podium at the Tokyo Games and at the upcoming 2022 Beijing Winter Games.