The Biden administration announced a boycott of the next year’s Winter Olympics in China, on Monday of last week. We will send no government officials, protesting what we called China’s human rights “atrocities.” This is after China already threatened “countermeasures” in case anyone announced a diplomatic boycott.
It’s not the first time for a boycott of the Olympics. However, one might question why anyone would boycott a sporting event that is specifically designed to transcend politics. It is meant to be one way that nations could come together to interact without trying to score non-athletic “points.”
President Joe Biden said last month that he was considering such a boycott amid criticism of China’s human rights record, including what Washington says is genocide against minority Muslims in its western region of Xinjiang. . .
The diplomatic boycott, which has been encouraged by some members of the U.S. Congress and rights advocacy groups for months, would not affect the attendance of American athletes, [Press Secretary Jen Psaki] said. . .
While a handful of prominent Republicans criticized Biden for not pursuing a full boycott, Republican Senator Mitt Romney, who led the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City, said Biden had made the right choice. . .
The United States is next due to host an Olympics in 2028 in Los Angeles, raising the question of how China might respond in the interim.
At least the Biden boycott does not keep our athletes from participating. Young people work for years, for a chance to compete on the world stage, and several times they have been kept from doing so. For those old enough to remember, 1980 was such an episode.
The Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979 led to the largest boycott in the history of the Olympic movement. U.S. Pres. Jimmy Carter took the lead in the call for a boycott of the 1980 Olympics, and approximately 60 other countries joined the United States in staying away from Moscow.
As noted above, there is a fear that the Chinese may retaliate by boycotting the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. That would be a repeat of the Russian boycott of the 1984 Olympics, in response to America’s boycott in 1980.
Claiming that its athletes will not be safe from protests and possible physical attacks, the Soviet Union announces that it will not compete in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Despite the Soviet statement, it was obvious that the boycott was a response to the decision of the United States to boycott the 1980 games that were held in Moscow. . .
The administration of President Ronald Reagan responded to these charges by declaring that the Soviet boycott was “a blatant political decision for which there was no real justification.”
There have been six times that the modern Olympics have seen a boycott.
[In 1956,] Australia’s first hosting stint also marked the first Olympic boycott, with numerous countries withdrawing for a variety of political reasons. Less than a month before the opening ceremony, the Soviet Union invaded Hungary to stop the Hungarian Revolution against the Communist regime; in protest, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland all refused to participate. Meanwhile, the People’s Republic of China also withdrew—and would not return until the 1980 Winter Games—because Taiwan, which it considers a breakaway province, was allowed to participate as a separate country. And, finally, Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon boycotted the 1956 Olympics due to the Suez Canal Crisis following the British-Israel-French invasion of Egypt to control the waterway. . .
[In 1964,] China, North Korea and Indonesia chose to boycott the first Games held in an Asian country after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) declared it would disqualify athletes who competed in the 1963 Jakarta-held Games of the New Emerging Forces, created as an alternative multinational amateur competition. . .
It was the first year South Africa was banned from participating in the Olympics because of apartheid, a ban that continued until 1992. . .
[In 1976,] When New Zealand’s national rugby team defied an international sports embargo against South Africa and toured the apartheid nation earlier in the year, 28 African nations—comprising most of the continent—declared a boycott of the Olympics, which was allowing New Zealand to participate. Led by Tanzania, the boycott involved more than 400 athletes. In a separate action, Taiwan withdrew from the Games when Canada refused to let its team compete as the Republic of China.
[1980 and 1984 are mentioned above][In 1988] Angered over not being allowed to co-host the Games with South Korea, North Korea refused to attend the 1988 event in neighboring Seoul. . .just Cuba, Ethiopia and Nicaragua joining North Korea in the boycott.
The Olympics were canceled altogether in 1919, 1940, and 1944, due to World Wars I and II, and in 1948, Germany and Japan were not allowed to compete, because of their actions in World War II (1936-1945). Many nations threatened to boycott the 1936 Olympics, knowing that Adolf Hitler would use it as a propaganda tool—trying to show that the Arian race was superior. That effort was largely foiled when African-American Jessie Owens took home four gold medals in track and field events.
The modern games revived a tradition of Ancient Greece.
The first ancient Olympic Games took place almost 2,800 years ago in the town of Olympia. They were the oldest, and largest, of the four PanHellenic Games – four separate sports festivals held in ancient Greece. The Olympics became an integral part of ancient Greek society. Every four years from 776BC to 393AD, thousands of people from all over the Greek world congregated for the competition.
As noted above, the ideal of the Olympics began as a way to compete without killing.
Prior to the Games, messengers called ‘spondophoroi’ were sent out across the Greek world to announce the Olympic Truce or ‘Ekecheiria’. Each participating city-state had to sign up to the truce, which meant that no war was permitted and no arms could be carried into Olympia.
This in turn facilitated the safe passage of athletes and spectators travelling to the festival. Initially, the truce was for one month but it was later extended to three. A large crowd, combined with a peaceful atmosphere, meant that the Olympics became a perfect opportunity for merchants, artists, and musicians to display their wares and talents.
Considering the original peaceful intent of the Olympics, shouldn’t we consider keeping politics out of it?
