Politics in the Olympic Games

Olympic Games in Beijing 2008

The Olympic games is a global event where politics should be set aside. But the history of the Olympics has shown that nations and athletes use the games as a stage for political protest. 

My position in this topic is that the Olympics or international competitions should be kept out of the influence of politics, because it seems that politics tarnish the purpose of the Olympics. I believe that the Olympics should be a sacred competition of honorable conduct where athletes show their incredible talent. I think that Olympics should be a stage to show athletic statements, to set world records, to admire the athlete's achievements, etc. It should have the same mission as in ancient times.

Some athletes and countries have boycotted the Olympics in numerous time due to political scandals and controversies. Athletes and the nations where they came from used to Olympics to demonstrate their power in the world, to gain prestige, and to spread their ideals.

Today's lecture with Dr. Hunt was very interesting, I liked how he talked about the politics and the history of Olympics. This afternoon I decided to learn more about each Olympic of modern times, and see how politics influenced each one. I want to share with y'all my findings:

1936 Olympics

• 1900 - The second modern games were to the first -- modern or ancient -- to feature women athletes (two sports only, golf and tennis).
• 1916 - No games due to World War I
• 1936 - The Berlin (Germany) games. Hitler allowed only "Aryan" athletes to represent Germany, but his attempt to demonstrate racial superiority ran headfirst into U.S. athlete Jesse Owens, an African-American who ran away with four gold medals. The U.S. had considered, and then rejected, boycotting the games. However, some individual athletes chose not to compete.
• 1940 and 1944  No games due to World War II
• 1956 - Attendance at Melbourne (Australia) was marred by the Suez War (Israel, the United Kingdom, and France invaded Egypt). In political retaliation, Egypt, Iraq, and Lebanon announced a boycott. After Soviet troops quashed a revolution in Hungary, the Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland also decided to boycott the Games.
• 1968 - At the games in Mexico City, two American athletes spoke out against racial segregation and provided visual support for the Black Power movement while being awarded medals (gold and bronze) for the 200-meter race. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) suspended the two Americans.
• 1972 - The Munich (Germany) games were the first marked by violence. Eight Palestinian terrorists took Israeli athletes and coaches hostage. Five of the terrorists, the 11 Israelis, as well as a West German policemen were killed.
• 1980 - When the games were in Moscow (Soviet Union), the U.S. led a boycott (62 countries and regions) of the games because the Soviet Union had invaded Afghanistan.
• 1984 - The Soviets boycotted the Los Angeles games in retaliation.
• 2000 - North and South Korean athletes marched under a single flag during opening ceremonies at the Sydney (Australia) games, although they would compete separately.
• 2008 - The Beijing, China games are haunted by the Free Tibet movement and also marked by Russia's contemporaneous invasion of Georgia.