Winter Olympians warned to be careful what they say during Beijing Games

• Chair of athletes' commission Yang Yang says be responsible'
• Venues may be up to half capacity for Friday's opening events

The chair of the Beijing Winter Olympics Athletes' Commission has warned competitors that they need to be responsible" if they decide to speak out about controversial issues.

Athlete freedom has been one of the hot topics before these Games, with human rights groups warning there could be consequences for talking about events in Tibet, Hong Kong and Xinjiang. However, the former speed skater Yang Yang, who won gold at the 2002 Winter Games, insisted that athletes would be free to talk in mixed zones and interviews under the IOC's rule 50 - although podium protests would be banned.