OPINION OF INDIVIDUAL JUSTICE
IN CHAMBERS
on application for stay
No. A-954. Decided June 20, 1992
The request of applicant Reynolds is granted to stay a Court of Appeals' order staying a preliminary injunction which barred The Athletic Congress of the U. S. A., Inc., and the International Amateur Athletic Federation from impeding or interfering with Reynolds' ability to compete in the 1992 United States Olympic Trials. The District Court's opinion on the issue whether Reynolds has established a probability of success on the merits is persuasive. With respect to whether the availability of a damages remedy precludes a finding of irreparable harm, a decent respect for the incomparable importance of winning an Olympic gold medal demonstrates that a pecuniary award is not an adequate substitute for the intangible values for which the world's greatest athletes compete.
Justice Stevens, Circuit Justice.
On June 19, 1992, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio entered a preliminary injunction barring The Athletic Congress of the U. S. A., Inc., and the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) from impeding or interfering with Harry L. Reynolds, Jr.'s, ability to compete in the 1992 United States Olympic Trials. Later that day, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued an order staying the preliminary injunction. Mr. Reynolds has applied to me in my capacity as a Circuit Justice for a stay of the order of the Court of Appeals.
In my opinion, the IAAF's threatened harm to third parties cannot dictate the proper disposition of applicant's claim. The dispositive questions for me are, first, whether applicant
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