Mitt Romney: 2002 Olympic uniforms were made in Myanmar

GlobalPost

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has been strangely quiet on the row over the US Olympic team’s “Made in China” uniforms.

And now, it seems, we know why.

More from GlobalPost: China: Team USA uniform brouhaha "blasphemy on the Olympic spirit"

Romney was president of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics when an even more embarrassing brouhaha erupted: torch bearer uniforms that had been manufactured in Myanmar when it was run by a brutal military dictatorship.

Susan Bonfield, a former US torch bearer for the winter version of the sporting event, told the Guardian that she was outraged when she discovered her uniform had been made in Myanmar, also known as Burma.

"When I looked at the label for the uniform, I went nuts. When you are sending work representing the US to a military dictatorship, I have an issue with that," Bonfield, 57, told the UK newspaper.

According to Newser, the Salt Lake City organizing committee dug an even deeper hole for itself by telling protesters that the uniforms “were NOT made in Burma. They were manufactured in Myanmar.”

Activists had to point out that Myanmar and Burma were the same country.

During an interview with ABC last Friday, Romney was asked for his opinion on the made-in-China uniforms controversy.

Rather than engage in a bit of easy political points scoring against his rival President Barack Obama, Romney offered this response: "I'm not going to get into the uniform issue. There are big issues associated with the Olympics: the security of the games, the readiness of our athletes, and that's what I'm going to focus on, hopefully when I get to cheer on the people who are going to be supporting and representing our country."


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