• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Sunday, May 22, 2022
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Opinion

Unfair Politicization, Corruption, and the Death of Modern Olympism

Jianli Yang by Jianli Yang
04/23/22
in Opinion
China Muslim Uyghurs

People calling for a boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics due to China's persecution of Muslim Uyghurs in front of the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles in November 2021. Photo: Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Chinese leader Xi Jinping held a grand ceremony on April 8 to celebrate the success of the Beijing Olympics. Perhaps it is just because of the “success” Xi was bragging about that modern Olympism, once admired by generations of people from around the world, is dead.

The cause of death of modern Olympism is twofold: corruption and hyper-and-unfair-politicization which includes the ascendance of nationalism.

Few people are so naive as to believe that the Olympics are, or could ever be, devoid of politics. Indeed, since its inception, the modern Olympic Games have become part of geopolitical history, often reflecting political tensions between nation-states.

Politicization of the Olympic Games

At the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium — the first Games held after World War I — nations that lost in the war, such as Germany, were banned from participating. This punitive measure would have violated the principle of political neutrality enshrined in the current version of the Olympic Charter, although early versions of the Charter did not contain such a stipulation.

Sixteen years later, perhaps in part as an act of revenge or vindication, a re-emerging Germany transformed the event into a nationalistic and ideological contest as the host of the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.

During the Cold War, international sports competitions were used as a vehicle for regimes to declare the superiority of their respective political systems. In recent years, the politicization of the Olympic Games has escalated to an unprecedented level, mainly at the hands of Russia and China.

Unfair Politicization

China’s communist regime exploited the 2008 Beijing Olympics to the fullest extent possible. The Games were a political project designed to demonstrate, both domestically and abroad, the rise of China under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics were staged in large part to display the strength of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who used the Games as an opportunity to bolster the image of Russia’s strength in the lead-up to the authoritarian state’s annexation of Crimean in February and March of that year.

Vladimir Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin. File photo: Wang Zhao AFP

The politicization of the Olympic movement was always inevitable, but it is its unfair politicization that has killed modern Olympism.

Such unfair politicization was on full display at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. The Chinese government extensively politicized the 2022 Beijing Olympics while simultaneously slandering dissenting voices of Chinese human rights victims, activists and groups, and the democratic governments of other countries. It claims that such individuals and groups are “politicized” and contradict the Olympic spirit.

‘Harmonious Development of Humankind’

According to the Olympic Charter, the goal of the Games is “to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of humankind, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity.”

Genocide — such as is happening to Uyghurs in Xinjiang — is the antithesis of the “harmonious development of humankind,” and forced labor tramples on human dignity, rather than preserving it.

Our acts of “politicization”, meant to defend “universal fundamental ethical principles” as set forth in the Charter — such as peacefully publicizing and protesting the past and present atrocities committed by the CCP — were prohibited in Beijing and across China.

The athletes, warned in advance by Chinese officials to remain silent on political matters while in China, literally feared for their freedom and safety if they spoke out.

Hyper-Nationalization

The modern Olympics have long become a hyper-nationalized event. The Olympic Charter stipulates that the Games “are competitions between athletes in individual or team events and not between countries.” However, in reality, no Olympic athlete stands alone. Every Olympian is required to be “a national of the country of the National Olympic Committee which is entering such competitor.” 

Olympic athletes are part of teams representing nations. The modern Olympic Games have turned into a competition between nations. Victory, measured by medal count, glorifies and validates the nation and its ruling regime, and is used to purportedly demonstrate the greatness of the nation’s leader.

Just like Adolf Hitler, Xi wanted the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games to validate and demonstrate Chinese superiority and his own greatness as China’s leader. He also wanted the Chinese flag, raised and waved around during the Games, to mobilize nationalist sentiment.

A man wearing a mask passes the logo of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games displayed on the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building on March 19, 2020.
A man wearing a mask passes the logo of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games displayed on the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building on March 19, 2020. Photo: Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP

The Olympics have become a dangerous instrument of nationalism, which in China means Han chauvinism. As such, anyone in China who might have wanted to “politicize” the 2022 Games by speaking out about and defending universal ethic principles, such as protesting the genocide of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, would have been deemed an enemy of Xi, the CCP regime, and even the entire nation.

This is the anthesis of “fair play,” which is a core tenet of the Olympic spirit.

Moreover, the fact that the modern-day Olympics have become a multibillion-dollar business operation virtually ensures that corruption is the rule rather than the exception. This includes doping and, eventually, genetic engineering of competitors — especially by depraved, morally-bankrupt totalitarian states like China and Russia.

Compared to democratic nations, authoritarian states like China and Russia also devote vastly more resources to training athletes and bribing the IOC to host the Olympics. These countries give out huge bonuses to medalists who “bring glory to their country.” And, of course, there are lucrative business opportunities that follow.

The Olympic Games have become one-third politics, one-third money, and one-third competition.

Spirit of Modern Olympism

The spirit of modern Olympism has suffered a gradual “death of a thousand cuts,” due primarily to the intense and ever-increasing politicization of the Games and fueled by the rampant corruption of participating and hosting countries (some more than others) and the IOC itself.

If the integrity of modern Olympism can ever be redeemed, certain changes must take place:

First, competition must be between individual athletes. Naturally, every athlete has his or her own roots, nationality, and citizenship, but none of these factors should be a prominent part of the Games. There should be no national teams, nor should any national flags be raised during the Games.

Second, any politicization of the Games must be carried out in a fair, free, and peaceful manner.

Third, the host country must ensure freedom of expression and freedom of press for all Olympic participants and the media. Any complaints about breaches of these freedoms must be investigated, and, if substantiated, the host country must face severe consequences.

Unless major improvements are made to ensure that the Olympics are about athletic greatness and not political prowess or nationalistic fervor, the trend of declining interest in the Olympic Games will inevitably continue.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of The Globe Post.
ShareTweet
Jianli Yang

Jianli Yang

Founder and President of Citizen Power Initiatives for China. Follow him on Twitter @yangjianli001

Related Posts

Vladimir Putin
Business

Russia Says Economy Grew 3.5 Percent in First Quarter

by Staff Writer
May 18, 2022
Bucha massacre
World

UN Launches Probe Into Russian Abuses in Ukraine

by Staff Writer
May 12, 2022
newspaper
Media Freedom

Russian Court Jails Journalist Over Ukraine Report

by Staff Writer
April 15, 2022
Ukraine war
World

HRW Urges Ukraine to Probe Possible ‘War Crimes’

by Staff Writer
April 1, 2022
Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant
World

Russian Troops Start Leaving Chernobyl: Ukraine Nuclear Agency

by Staff Writer
March 31, 2022
Chinese leader Xi Jinping
Opinion

How Wrong ‘How China Can End the War in Ukraine’ Is

by Yan Yu and Jianli Yang
April 1, 2022
Next Post
Janet Yellen

Yellen Warns European Ban on Russian Energy Could Harm Economies

Rwanda's President Paul Kagame

Rwanda President Says UK Migrant Deal 'Not Trading in Humans'

Please login to join discussion

Recommended

Volkswagen logo

German Farmer Sues Volkswagen Over CO2 Emissions

May 20, 2022
Vladimir Putin

Russia Says Economy Grew 3.5 Percent in First Quarter

May 18, 2022
Mexico missing people

Over 100,000 People Reported Missing in Mexico, Data Reveals

May 17, 2022
Shireen Abu Akleh

Jerusalem Archbishop Condemns Israeli Police Raid at Journalist’s Funeral

May 16, 2022
A Lebanese election official stands at a polling station

New Group Threatens Lebanese Elections… and Potentially Middle East Peace

May 18, 2022
Israel

15 European Nations Urge Israel to Reverse Plans for More Settler Homes

May 13, 2022

Opinion

A Lebanese election official stands at a polling station

New Group Threatens Lebanese Elections… and Potentially Middle East Peace

May 18, 2022
A man holding a gun

Safely Back in USA, Land of Guns and Burgers

May 2, 2022
China Muslim Uyghurs

Unfair Politicization, Corruption, and the Death of Modern Olympism

April 23, 2022
Ukraine war

The Ukrainian Refugee Crisis and the Hierarchies of Western Compassion

April 20, 2022
Chinese leader Xi Jinping

How Wrong ‘How China Can End the War in Ukraine’ Is

April 1, 2022
Ukraine children

The War for Ukraine’s Lives and Minds

March 30, 2022
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post