BEIJING, Aug 11: A senior Cuban athletics coach denied on Monday that his team’s best hope for a track gold at the Beijing Olympics had signed a controversial petition pressing China over Tibet and human rights.

Last week, rights groups published a petition they said was signed by 40 athletes, including Cuba’s 110 metre world record holder Dayron Robles, urging Chinese President Hu Jintao to find peace in Tibet and protect freedom of religion and opinion.

The appearance of Robles’s name was a surprise given close ties between Cuba and China, which are both Communist-run.

Cuban athletes generally avoid touchy politics, with the exception of defectors from the state-run sports system.

“We saw this when we arrived, but at no time did anyone approach us, nor did we sign anything like this. We don’t even know who that group is,” Robles’s coach Santiago Antunez said of German-based Sports for Peace that put the petition online.

“It’s wrong. We’re just here to compete,” Antunez added as his 21-year-old protege limbered up behind him on a training track where he was not available for interviews.

Antunez said nations should respect each other’s politics.

“It’s not up to us [sportsmen] to talk,” he said.—Reuters