Former Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said the United States will continue to work with Russia and the International Olympic Coalition to ensure athletes and spectators are safe at the Olympics in Sochi next month.
“I know the State Department, their security division, and the FBI will have security people on the ground, and so I think we’re going to have to rely on that,” she said Sunday on “Meet the Press.” “We look to cooperating with the IOC, with the host nation and the other countries that are there in terms of protecting the security of the games.”
Ms. Napolitano, together with some famous gay and lesbian American athletes, will be part of the presidential delegation to the winter games during the opening ceremonies in a country that has passed recent anti-gay laws. She said, however, that those politics won’t detract from the athlete’s achievements.
“There have always been some politics surrounding the games, particularly in the weeks in the immediate lead-up,” she said. “Once the athletes start going down the runs and doing the skating and the first woman’s team ever to be ski jumping, the attention will turn.”
“I think what we would like to do is demonstrate that the United States is a very free and open and tolerant society,” she added.
• Jacqueline Klimas can be reached at jklimas@washingtontimes.com.
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