Joey Cheek This is Me

Education

 Web References

1. 1. www.darfurconsortium.org

   www.darfurconsortium.org/News/ - [Cached]

   Published on: 7/31/2007   Last Visited: 11/27/2007

   "My name is Joey Cheek," he said.
   ...
   Cheek, the American speed skater who won the gold medal in the 500 meters at the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, Italy, was holding his ground that day with a message , stop the slaughter in Sudan , to the host country of next summer's Olympics in Beijing.
   
   "Only you can come in," the embassy gatekeeper told Cheek, instructing the coalition members with him, along with a Darfuri refugee named Daoud Hari, to retreat.
   
   Clutching thick binders with signatures collected around the United States, Cheek waited as 5 minutes became 10, 10 became 20, 20 became 30. Just leave them, one of his colleagues suggested.
   
   Not yet, Cheek said, and after more than a half-hour, the front door opened. Into the lobby, to a brief audience with embassy officials, he went to make his drop and propose leading a group of American and Chinese athletes on a trip to Darfur, the violence-racked region of Sudan, a country with which China wields considerable economic clout.
   
   "They didn't dismiss it," Cheek said in a telephone interview. "They seemed interested."
   
   Granted, the timing of his embassy mission wasn't good, if attention was the desired goal , not in a week when professional sport on so many levels was reeking of malfeasance, from one side of the Atlantic to the other. But shame on us if we can't take a few moments to applaud Cheek's patience, conviction and cause.
   
   Today, in this space, the now hounded quarterback Vick, the home run antihero Barry Bonds, the suspected rogue N.B.A. ref, the chemically aided cyclists and even poor, misunderstood Michael Strahan must wait while Cheek explains why mixing politics and sport , specifically the international version , does not violate any sacred, time-honored code.
   ...
   "The Chinese say, ,Don't politicize the Olympics,' but that's ridiculous," Cheek said. "The only reason they wanted it was political, to prove they are a great power on the world stage."
   
   For the record, he does not support calls to boycott Beijing, only using the Games as leverage to move the Chinese government on Darfur. If his two Olympic experiences have taught him anything, it is that the Games , rampant commercialism and scandals notwithstanding , are as good a stage as any "to fight for an ideal that you believe in."
   
   More than his medals, Cheek is no doubt remembered for donating his 2006 Olympic prize money to a sport and humanitarian organization championed by Johann Olav Koss, the Norwegian speed-skating legend.
   ...
   For the standard post-Games period, Cheek was the face on the Wheaties box, America's feel-good Olympian. He became a regular on the corporate speaking circuit, admittedly cashing in to fund a Princeton education he deferred for one year.
   
   Retired from skating, Cheek resumed giving back, formed his own charitable campaign , called it "Where Will We Be?" , to galvanize Olympians and raise money to fund worthy causes.
   
   He began by stepping onto the Darfur soapbox, but the more he learned about displacement and genocide, the more he couldn't get off it. He spoke at a Washington rally with Barack Obama and Hollywood activists, targeting, in part, Bush Administration policy. He testified before Congress. He traveled to China, Egypt and the troubled area in Chad near its border with Sudan.
   
   He would like to work with Ira Newble, the journeyman basketball player who last spring collected signatures from his Cleveland Cavaliers teammates on a letter to China protesting Darfur , absent, most notably, was the young superstar, LeBron James.
   
   "Most Olympians are nowhere near that level of fame," Cheek said.
   ...
   As a U.S. Olympics gold medalist in speed-skating, Joey Cheek is not used to standing still. However, he waited patiently at the entrance of the Chinese Embassy for more than a half-hour to deliver petitions with 42,000 signatures, urging China to use its influence on Sudan to stop the genocide of the people of Darfur.
   
   Finally, Chinese officials let him in to hand over the petitions, organized by the Washington-based Save Darfur Coalition. Cheek has long been active in raising money for Darfur refugees. He donated his $25,000 in award money from his 2006 Gold Medal to the Darfur cause.

2. 2. www.darfurconsortium.org

   www.darfurconsortium.org/News/ - [Cached]

   Published on: 8/13/2007   Last Visited: 11/27/2007

   So we interrupt the spread of cynicism today with another chapter in the story of Joey Cheek, one-man haz-mat unit.
   
   Sports fans who watched the 2006 Winter Olympics may recall that Cheek carried the American flag during closing ceremonies in Turin, Italy, where he won gold and silver medals in long-track speedskating.
   
   He carried the flag because he earlier carried the Olympic day by donating his cash winnings very publicly to an organization, Right to Play, that distributes sports equipment and hands-on help to kids in impoverished regions, mostly in Africa.
   
   Fast forward 17 months to July 25, when Cheek was carrying something more provocative -- petitions signed by 42,000 people imploring China to help stop the civilian genocide in Darfur, Sudan.
   
   More dramatic was where he carried the petitions -- to the door of the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C.
   
   He rang the bell. For 35 minutes, backed by fellow members of an organization called Save Darfur Coalition, he waited.
   ...
   In entering the embassy, Cheek, from Greensboro, N.C., also crossed a more figurative threshold. He became that rare athlete engaged publicly in political controversy.
   
   "Since that point, my interviews and experiences have had a different tone," he said by phone late last week from the capital.
   ...
   Cheek moved aggressively to make sure his Olympics generosity did not fade into a little-remembered publicity stunt. He followed word with deed. He created his own organization, Where Will We Be? (wherewillwebe.org), which aims to gather athletes from around the world to help keep pressure on China and other nations to end the atrocities in Sudan.
   
   He has met with Presidents Bush and Clinton and former U.N. chief Kofi Annan, twice visited Africa, and spoke in front of thousands in New York's Central Park and Washington's National Mall.
   
   There's one thing he didn't do -- use his athletic achievements to beg off any public social responsibility.
   ...
   Cheek has it easier than team-sport athletes. He's retiring from Olympic competition to begin his long-postponed college studies at Princeton, where he will major in economics. No one has leverage over him.
   
   It is Cheek who has leverage. He chose to exploit it.
   
   A bronze medalist in the 2002 Winter Games, he first learned of the enormous media attention accruing to winners, and how quickly it dissipates. He arrived in Turin with a plan.
   
   "Everyone in the world wants to talk to you (when you win) -- you're very famous and then you're history," he said.
   ...
   Unlike some Americans who want the U.S. to boycott the 2008 Games, Cheek wants everyone in Beijing. His goal is to have in his organization a member from each sport and every nation. He'd like them to do as he did -- speak their hearts and minds in a world forum.

3. 3. TexasCrossroads

   www.texascrossroads.com/script - [Cached]

   Published on: 5/8/2000   Last Visited: 11/4/2000

   Cheek Looks Toward 2002 Olympics WEST ALLIS, Wis. (AP) -- A medal in the 2002 Olympics is only a dream right now for Joey Cheek. But the speedskater from Greensboro, N.C., says he will do whatever it takes to make it come true.
   
   Reds' Boone Gets To Manage His Son CINCINNATI (AP) -- Third baseman Aaron Boone do not expect any favors now that his father is also his manager.
   
   Country Hideaway Wins at Aqueduct NEW YORK (AP) -- Country Hideaway, part of the heavily favored entry with Cat Cay, took the lead in the stretch under Jose Espinosa and rode off to a 3 1-2-length victory Saturday in $ 150, 000 First Flight Handicap at Aqueduct.