05.02 US Snowboard Star Retracts Sochi Boycott Call

KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia, February 5 (R-Sport) – Olympic gold medal-winning snowboard star Hannah Teter on Wednesday retracted her earlier backing for a boycott of this month’s Sochi Winter Games.

In October, Teter backed a boycott in comments to Time magazine, saying that she felt it would be justified in light of a Russian law banning the “promotion of non-traditional sexual relations” to under 18s, which opponents say is a crackdown on the rights of gay people.

“I said that a long time ago and definitely took it back and decided I want to represent the US and show what snowboarding’s all about,” Teter said at a news conference in the mountains above Sochi.

Teter, who won halfpipe gold in 2006 and silver four years later in Vancouver, will be in action in the halfpipe February 12.