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PARIS - FRANCE'S dual world recordbreaking swimmer Alain Bernard said on Monday that boycotting of the opening ceremony at the Olympic Games in Beijing in August would send an important message.
Bernard - newly crowned European champion in the 50metres and 100m freestyle as well as recording new world records in both events - told French television station TFI that it would be a show of strength by the politicians.
'Boycott the opening ceremony, why not,' said Bernard, who has been the star of the European swimming championships which concluded in Eindhoven on Monday.
'It would be a huge message from the politicians. Boycotting is a very delicate question. As a sportsman, we will have an important role to play because what we are going to produce there, our results, will attract the eyes of the world.'
'After that side of things, boycotting becomes a political decision. It is very delicate for us,' he added.
Bernard's comments come amidst mounting anxiety over the crackdown on anti-Chinese protests in Tibet, which exiled Tibetans say have left at least 130 dead, and has overshadowed the build-up to the Games. -- AFP
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