The Olympic Games are when many nations celebrate athleticism and mental strength. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) aims to promote sport competition and education free of any discrimination, “in a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.”
Despite the IOC’s goals for international peace during the Games, politics have disrupted the Olympic Games throughout its history, whether through boycotts, propaganda, or protests.
On their surface, the Games are a celebration of athleticism. Underneath, they’ve been bubbling with politics as far back as the original Olympics in ancient Greece, when city-states would use the occasion for political maneuvering and alliance-building.
When French president Emmanuel Macron announced the snap election back in June, International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach and Paris 2024 organisers said that political upheaval in France would not affect the Olympics.
This seems unlikely; even before the French election was announced, world politics were always going to have an impact on the games. Sport and politics seem inseparably linked and the Olympics in particular have been affected by political issues many times over the years:
Berlin 1936: The Nazi Olympics
In 1933, the Nazi Party rose to power in Germany. 49 countries attended the Games in Berlin, the most countries to attend any Olympic Games so far. The German government used the international spotlight as an opportunity to portray the country as a benign and progressive nation while also providing fuel for its Aryan-superiority propaganda.
London 1948: Germany and Japan Banned
Following world war two, the Olympics took on a greater political significance as participation came to symbolise political recognition and legitimacy. Germany and Japan were not invited to London because of their wartime roles, while the Soviet Union was invited but did not show up.
Melbourne 1956: Two Protests
Three separate protests affected the Melbourne Games. China withdrew after the International Olympic Commission recognized Taiwan, and would not return to the Olympics before 1980. Egypt, Iraq, and Lebanon sat out to protest at Israel's invasion of the Sinai Peninsula, while Spain, Switzerland, and the Netherlands boycotted the Soviet invasion of Hungary.
The conflict between the USSR and Hungary was brought on stage when they faced each other for the water polo semi-final. The game was terminated by the referee after a fierce exchange of kicks and punches. Hungary who was leading at the time, was credited with a victory.
Mexico City 1968: Brutal Shooting and Civil Rights Protest
1968 was a year of universal unrest: Europe was rocked by student protests, the Vietnam War raged on, Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were assassinated and the USSR invaded Czechoslovakia. Meanwhile, at the Olympics, East Germany competed separately for the first time. Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who finished first and third in the 200 meters, gave the Black Power salute during the national anthem as a protest against racism in the US.
Montreal 1976: African Countries Boycott Olympics
Some two dozen countries, mostly from Africa, boycotted the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal after the IOC refused to ban New Zealand from the Games. New Zealand’s national rugby team had toured South Africa, a country that had been banned from the Olympics since 1964 because of its apartheid policies. While the boycott did not succeed in banning New Zealand from the Games, it did have a significant financial and athletic effect on the Games. Most importantly, it brought worldwide attention to apartheid policies in South Africa. In fact, when the South African Springboks took their rugby tour in New Zealand in 1981, they were met with antiapartheid protests.
Rio de Janeiro 2016: Refugee Olympic Team
Ten refugee athletes were selected to compete in the first-ever Refugee Olympic Team (ROT) for the Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics. The IOC created this team to bring the refugee crisis to the international forefront. Athletes originally from Syria, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo were chosen for the squad, and each athlete trained in a host country (Kenya, Belgium, Luxembourg, Brazil, or Germany). The athletes—judokas, distance runners, sprinters, and swimmers—entered the opening ceremony before the host country Brazil, carrying the Olympic flag.
Political controversies ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics
The 2024 Summer Olympics in France are a celebratory time for many but the Games are against the backdrop of dynamic circumstances throughout the globe.
The 2024 Olympics have already been overshadowed by political upheaval in France after President Emmanuel Macron called a snap election last month. Other political issues that might muscle their way into the Games include Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, Israel's war in Gaza, the US election, and climate change.
When Russia launched its “special military operation” in Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) took all four days to recommend a ban on athletes from Russia.
The IOC move was just as swift as the Western world’s vociferous condemnation of Russia, and also targeted Moscow’s key ally Belarus, advising international sports bodies and sports event organizers not to “invite or allow the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials in international competitions.”
The IOC statement asserted that the “Olympic Movement is united in its mission to contribute to peace through sport” and “committed to fair competitions for everybody without any discrimination.”
That was the first step in the IOC’s sanctions on Russian and Belarusian athletes, which has since barred them from competing in the Olympics under their countries’ flags, instead designating them as neutral and independent contestants – first for the 2022 Winter Olympics and now for the Summer Games starting in Paris this July.
When Palestinian Olympic soccer coach Hani al-Masdar was killed by an Israeli air strike in Gaza last January, one might have thought that the International Olympic Committee (OIC) would have sprung into action. After all, the Palestine Olympic Committee has been officially recognized by the IOC for decades. But recognition did not translate into sympathy, despite the IOC’s stated commitment “to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity” and “respect for universal fundamental ethical principles.”
When asked about whether Israel would be allowed to participate in Paris, IOC President Thomas Bach was unequivocal: “No, there is no question about this.” The 87 Israeli Olympians who travel to France will participate under Israel’s flag. This is even though the Israeli Defense Forces have now killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians.
Israel has certainly violated the territorial integrity of Palestine. Every football pitch in Gaza is either destroyed or damaged. As journalist Karim Zidan noted, Israel transformed Gaza’s storied Yarmouk Stadium into an internment camp where Palestinians were detained and interrogated, Anadolu News Agency mentioned in a report. Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has proposed going even further: assuming indefinite military control over Gaza. All this plainly “violates the territorial integrity” of the Palestinian National Olympic Committee.
And yet, the IOC has cowered behind the flimsy scrim of being “politically neutral,” in the words of the IOC’s president. This stance ignores the grim reality that choosing neutrality often means implicitly siding with the aggressor, assuaging the powerful, and abandoning everyone else.
Compiled by Sahar Dadjoo
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