A little history about the Olympics:
Legend has it that Heracles, son of Zeus and the mortal woman Alcmene, founded the Games. The Ancient Olympic Games were religious and athletic festivals held every four years at the sanctuary of Zeus in Olympia, Greece from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD. In 1884, Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) leading to the first modern Games in Athens in 1896. The IOC is the governing body of the Olympic Movement, with the Olympic Charter defining its structure and authority.
The Olympic Truce: 776 BC
The Olympic Truce was first adopted at the inaugural Olympic Games in 776 BC under the reign of Iphitos, King of Elis, who was intent on breaking the incessant cycle of armed conflict that beset Ancient Greece in the ninth century BC. It was revived by the International Olympic Committee in the early 1990s with the support of the United Nations. The Olympic Truce seeks to bring an end to conflict around the world. The main objectives pursued by the IOC through the Olympic Truce are to mobilise youth for the promotion of the Olympic ideal, to use sport to help build bridges between communities in conflict, and, more generally, to create a window of opportunity for dialogue and reconciliation. The Organising Committees for the Olympic Games (OCOGs) all contribute fully to promoting these themes, while the IOC’s undertakings for the Olympic Truce extend beyond the period of the Olympic Games and have led to the implementation of a series of “sport for peace” activities through its more than 200 National Olympic Committees. (IOC.com website November 13, 2017)
The Olympic Oath: 1920
Taken for the first time at the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp by Victor Boin, a Belgian fencer, the Olympic oath is one of the protocol elements of the Opening Ceremony. It is taken by an athlete from the host county, on behalf of all the athletes. This oath is similar to the one sworn by Olympic athletes in ancient times – the only difference being that today’s athletes take the oath with the Olympic flag and not the innards of a sacrificed animal.
The Olympic Flame: 1928
The Olympic torch or Olympic Flame was first inaugurated in the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam, followed by the Olympic torch relay at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.
Present Day Controversy – Winter Olympics: Beijing, China February 4 – 20, 2022:
The 2022 Winter Olympics, officially the XXIV Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Beijing 2022, are an upcoming international winter multi-sport event scheduled to take place from February 4 – 20, 2022 in Beijing and towns in the neighboring Hebei province in the People’s Republic of China. Their official motto is: Together for a Shared Future.
There is a lot of controversy surrounding the Beijing Olympics regarding Human Rights.
Bonnie S. Glaser reported in the www.gmfus.com: As the 2022 Olympics near, several countries, including the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada, and Lithuania, have announced a diplomatic boycott of the competition and others may do so as well. So far, all countries will allow their athletes to compete. The diplomatic boycotts are a response to concerns about China’s human rights practices, especially in Xinjiang, where at least one million Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities have been subject to involuntary detention in what China labels “re-education camps.” Countries have very limited leverage over Chinese domestic human rights practices, and some argue that the Olympics provides a rare opportunity to voice the international community’s concerns in a way that could shine a spotlight on China’s human rights violations.
The NHL recently pulled out of the Beijing Winter Olympics, not for reasons based on human rights, but for concerns of COVID. In a report published on December 21, 2021, by NHL.com staff writer Tom Gulitti, a very carefully worded statement was issued by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, the decision to pull out was clearly based on concerns about COVID. No mention at all was made in respect to Human Rights issues.
In a report from BBC News on December 9, 2021, other countries, including Japan, are said to be considering diplomatic boycotts of the Winter Games. In opposition, France, host of the next Summer Games, said it would not join the boycott, followed by Italy’s similar declaration. Russian President Vladimir Putin has accepted an invitation to attend, despite his country being banned from competing due to a doping scandal in 2014.
China has issued a statement to countries who have announced a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics warning they “will pay the price for their mistaken acts”. This sounds a bit ominous. What exactly do they mean by “pay the price”? When you compare this dire warning to their Olympic motto “Together for a Shared Future” it makes you wonder what kind of future they envision for the world!
But is diplomatic boycotting enough? Globe & Mail writer, Cathal Kelly, published an article on December 6, 2021, titled “Washington’s boycott of Beijing Olympics is worse than meaningless.” He offered the following abbreviated analogy: You told your neighbour that you’d attend her annual New Year’s Eve party. Then you found out that she runs a dog-fighting ring or some similarly heinous activity on her property. You are so morally repulsed that skipping the party isn’t enough. You feel the need to get on the neighbourhood group chat and announce you’ve come to a difficult decision. After a lot of soul searching, you’ve determined that no decent person should be seen to support such a person and their party. With that in mind, you will not be attending this year. Your kids, however, will be going to the party. They’ve been looking forward to it all year and you can’t bring yourself to let them down.
In summary, you’ll boycott the party, and do some very public virtue signalling, but that’s about it. Is this what the diplomatic boycott amounts to? Just virtue signalling? In my opinion, based on the history of the Olympics and its original purpose to create peace, I feel that the issue of Human Rights must be considered in regards to the Beijing Winter Olympics in a more meaningful way.
This is my opinion. What’s yours?
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