Stickers to remember late athlete Sarah Burke have been banned by the International Olympic Committee.
Two years ago, Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke died in a training accident and many of her country's athletes put stickers on their helmets and boards to in a tribute to the late athlete.
However, Mark Adams, spokesman for the International Olympic Committee said in a statement released Monday: "She really needs to be well remembered, I think, and absolutely, we want to help the athletes to remember her in some way and there are all sorts of things we can do.
"From our side we would say that the competitions themselves, which are a place of celebration, are probably not the right place to really do that and we like to keep that separate.
"For us it is a question of what is appropriate and where would be the best place. As I say, we are very keen to help people who want to have a remembrance or do something and to do that in what would be the appropriate place."
Australian athlete Torah Bright said the IOC considers the Sarah Burke stickers as a political statement, and took to social media to vent. "I am also here to honour my great friend Sarah Burke who left this world two years ago. I ride with a Sarah sticker on my snowboard and helmet always. The IOC however, consider Sarah stickers "a political statement" and have banned them. WOW. Sarah is a beautiful, talented, powerful women, whose spirit inspires me still. She is a big reason why skier pipe/slope are now Olympic events."
Burke tragically died after injuries from a training accident on January 19, 2012. After completing a trick on Jan. 10, 2012, Burke fell onto her head and appeared to be fine. However, she soon went into cardiac arrest and was airlifted to hospita, where she later died of her injuries. She is considered a pioneer in superpipe skiing and was a four-time Winter X Games gold medallist.
