Changing China
Giant on the move
Politics and the Olympics over the years
WASHINGTON – The Olympics are supposed to be all about sports, not politics, right?
Wrong.
Although the Games began in 1896 with the hope that sporting events between nations could bring about a more peaceful world, they have not escaped politics.
Over the past 112 years, nations have boycotted the Games for political reasons, others have been denied entry by the International Olympic Committee and in 1972 Israeli athletes were murdered by Palestinian insurgents.
Click here for a photo slideshow “Politics and the Olympics”, narrated by noted American sportswriter Frank Deford published by the U.S.-based Council of Foreign Relations.
“Sport builds bridges, not walls” – Germany
Germans have had an extraordinarily unique perspective on the issue of Olympic boycotts — and what they might or might not accomplish.
Germany is the only country whose competitors missed the 1980 and 1984 Olympics due to boycotts. Germany was reunited in 1990. West Germany joined the U.S.-led boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan while Communist East Germany joined the Soviet Union and east bloc allies in boycotting the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
So it is perhaps worth listening to the views of Germany’s Olympic Committee. In a statement signed by German Olympic Committee (DOSB) president Thomas Bach, the DOSB said it won’t participate in any boycott of the Beijing Olympics in light of the unrest in and around Tibet — because past experience has shown their impact to be limited.
“After carefully considering all the arguments, the DOSB will send its team to the 2008 Olympics,” said the statement signed by Bach that nevertheless condemned the violence in Tibet. “Sport is not a suitable tool to be used to apply political pressure. Sport is not in a position to solve the problems that neither the United Nations nor individual nations were able to resolve despite decades of effort.”
Bach won a gold medal in fencing for West Germany at the 1976 Olympics, when African nations walked out in protest against a New Zealand rugby tour of racially segregated South Africa.
But he did not get the chance to defend his medal in 1980 when West Germany joined the U.S.-led boycott. In recent weeks many Germans — both east and west of the Iron Curtain that divided Germany during the Cold War — have spoken out against a boycott, saying they are pointless. Even though some political leaders have raised their voice on behalf of a boycott, the DOSB underscored that view that boycotts do not work.
“That’s been confirmed by all the previous experience. We believe sport is there to promote dialogue and international understanding. Sport builds bridges, not walls.”
Entirely agree with Kayying555. Another thing: I started to suspect how many Tibetans in the world and they don’t need to work? How can they follow the Torch relay all the time? Who is behind them? With what kind of political agenda?
I have just got a mail from one friend from London. It proved something I am suspecting. Here it is:
I went to see the torch relay on 4 th of Apr?one of western pro -tibet supporter came to chinese student to ask a bottle of water,They don’t want to give to him. and he said ,come on.Don’t be like that, They said why we have to give to you one? he said. for work! oh oh? funny.is it? who is those people? Do they really want to be the free tibet group or they just came for something else? for example,6 pounds per hour like working in supermarket? who knows?
“Protest begins at Home”
“This ‘Shut up and play’? That’s not okay. That’s not the Olympics.” So wrote Sports Illustrated’s Aditi Kinkhabwala, joining a rising chorus of sportswriters criticizing the pre-emptive repression of speech of Olympic athletes.It’s no doubt worthy of their ire.
The British Olympic Association told its teams in writing that they are forbidden to speak out “on any politically sensitive issues.” Other countries have done the same.
Canadian Olympic Committee President Dick Pound made crystal clear to the Canadian Olympians, “If it is so tough for you that you can’t bear not to say anything, then stay at home.” USA basketball and Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said, “None of these athletes [has] a responsibility to be political. They have the responsibility to represent their country.” And International Olympic Committee head Jacques Rogge has also said that “political factors” need to be kept away from the games.
To read the rest of this article, see http://www.indypendent.org/2008/07/18/pr otest-begins-at-home/