A collaboration between the News and Sports departments at WSOU (University Radio); Link to the original article here.

An Introduction to the Political History of the Olympic Games

Those who follow sport in some way will know that as much as fans long for it not to happen, politics always gets involved. It now goes without saying that domestic and international politics have affected the Olympic Games, the most international and inherently political non-political event there is. With the 2022 Beijing Winter Games coming up soon, it is worth remembering that the Olympics’ thrust into political spotlights isn’t new.

Political squabbles usually flow into international sport when determining who gets to host. A host country spends half a decade or so sweeping controversies under the rug for a good impression. After all, who doesn’t give their house a sweep and mop before inviting their friends over? The three most common controversies a host country can face revolve around domestic politics, finance, or international pressure. These 2022 Games’ particular case is a common one: China, a renowned authoritarian state gets to welcome the world (at least metaphorically speaking) amid a barrage of accusations and one of its worst positions on the world stage.

Back to the precedent. Domestic politics mostly affect, well… domestic sports. If politics and sports cross within the national theatre, it says a lot about the nation’s situation. Here in the U.S., we can clearly say that controversies in college football and baseball in the last couple of years show how politically and socially divided we are. Nonetheless, the resonance of the controversies largely stays within our borders, as Major League Baseball and College Football’s audience is mostly or almost exclusively American, respectively. Hosting the Olympics has shed light on some host countries’ domestic affairs.

In 1992, the summer games were hosted by Barcelona. Spain’s second largest city and the regional capital of Catalonia received an expensive makeover that transformed it from a rusty harbor to a tourism hotspot. Due to its cultural, linguistic, economic, and political differences with the rest of Spain, Catalonia has had a constant secessionist faction which took the opportunity of strolling tourists and spectators to promote Catalan independence, much to the silent chagrin of the central Spanish government which invested millions into the event intended to embellish Spain as a whole. How comfortable would it be for you to invite friends over to party if your roommate starts whispering to your guests how much he wants to move out?

Of course, money is a central issue in the planning and organizing of any sporting event, let alone the Olympic Games. Governments’ investments go far beyond security. The Olympics are a stage, an opportunity to showcase the friendliest people, cleanest streets, top-notch athletes, and so on. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Montréal was still the center of the Canadian economy, and it had its fair share of glitzy show projects, among them a new Métro (subway) system, the Expos MLB franchise (today the Washington Nationals), and a memorable hosting of the 1967 World’s Fair. Montréal was awarded the 1976 games in 1970 and got started on the construction of a massive Olympic Park with a centerpiece, doughnut-shaped stadium. Construction ended up being delayed by construction union leader turned mobster André Desjardins, all the while the Canadian federal government of Pierre Elliot Trudeau (the current prime minister’s father) quietly threatened to take over the project. The Stadium was finished on time. Known once as “The Big O,” it was finally paid for in 2006, by then obtaining the moniker “The Big Owe.”

The most common form of political controversy an international sporting event can garner is if the host country is an authoritarian dictatorship. From the end of the Korean War in 1953 up until 1987, South Korea was one of the many anti-communist military dictatorships. Nonetheless, the country experienced rapid economic growth in the aftermath of the war and was prosperous by 1981 when Seoul was awarded the games. The usual construction and preparation for the games went on, but the legitimacy of the regime of general Chun Doo-Hwan was challenged. A 1987 student protest resulting in the death of a student by gunshot to the skull pressured Chun to announce elections next year. Part of that pressure was the fact that Seoul was hosting the Olympic Games. Half the world was watching.

Most in the western world are painfully aware of China’s human rights record, and many western nations will not send their leaders to the games as is custom. Any athlete choosing to boycott the games would deal a blow to his or her career, by refusing to compete in a major event, thus preventing approaches from sponsors. Beijing 2022 is not the first, but it is probably the most interesting chapter of the Olympic Games in the sense that these games will not only be a small-scale representation of China’s ambition and image as well as what will determine the reputation of the Olympic movement. What can be concluded, however, is that the Olympic Games are impossible to depoliticized due to their international nature.