IOC won't be drawn on Trump-Hess row, satisfied Vonn was good to race

VIDEO SHOWS: DAILY NEWS BRIEFING WITH IOC AND ORGANISERS AT MILANO-CORTINA WINTER OLYMPICS  SHOWS: MILAN, ITALY (FEBRUARY 9, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all)  1. IOC DAILY NEWS BRIEFING BEGINS 2. QUESTION FROM FLOOR  WITH JOURNALIST SAYING "President Trump called your invited athlete, Hunter Hess, a real loser. Is Hunter has a real loser. Thank you." 3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) IOC SPOKESMAN MARK ADAMS SAYING:     "It won't surprise you to know that I'm not going to add to the…should we call it discourse? I won't comment on on the statement of the President of the United States, nor would I on another head of state either. I think USOC, USOPC, have made a statement which is out with the media. And I think we join ourselves to that statement. I don't think I've got anything more to add at this stage." 4. NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS 5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) IOC SPOKESMAN MARK ADAMS SAYING:       "What I will say is what I said the other day, that we have a very good, and not only us, but the USOPC have a very good working relationship with the administration. And that can only be a good thing for debate and discussion going forward and for delivering good games. And I think that that relationship is always a key one." 6. NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS 7. (SOUNDBITE) (English) IOC SPOKESMAN MARK ADAMS SAYING:      "In general, I think in general, clearly I'm not going to tell spectators how or why they should consume the games. Obviously, as we… the message of the opening ceremony that our president gave and the president of Milano 2026 gave was that these games are about bringing people together in peaceful competition, people from very different backgrounds, in peaceful competition. And that can that is something that people love about the Olympic Games from whatever background they come.  So that would be my general comment. But I have nothing to add on this specific case at the moment." 8. NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS 9. (SOUNDBITE) (English) IOC SPORTING DIRECTOR PIERRE DUCREY SAYING ON VONN CRASH:      "First of all, obviously, we our thoughts are with the athlete and with this tough injury. But I think it's clear in the downhill we give athletes opportunities to train, to make sure that they are able to go down the slope in in the way that it should be for all the athletes. So that happens. She was able to train and made the choice with the excellent team that she has to take part. So from that point of view, I don't think we can, you know, say that she should or shouldn't have participated. This decision was really hers and our team to take. She made the decision and unfortunately, it led to to the injury. But I think it's really the the way that the decision gets made for every athlete that participates to the downhill." DISCUSSION BETWEEN MARK ADAMS AND PANEL AS TO WHO WILL ANSWER QUESTION ON RESCUE OPERATION 10.(SOUNDBITE) (English) IOC SPORTING DIRECTOR PIERRE DUCREY SAYING: "But I think for Lindsey Vonn, as for all the athletes that had falls on that day, I think we could be very happy with the level of response and how the situation was handled." 11. NEWS CONFERENCE ENDS  STORY: TO FOLLOW 

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