Politics in the Olympic Games. Danielle Mason KINS 275. Dr. Lucas. April 6, 2012

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1 POLITICS IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES 1 Politics in the Olympic Games Danielle Mason KINS 275 Dr. Lucas April 6, 2012

2 POLITICS IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES 2 Politics in the Olympic Games Since the beginning of the Olympic Games it has been surrounded by issues and politics. The Olympic Games have been used to create a war minus the shooting. (Guttmann,1992) Even at its beginning the countries (or city states) competing used the Games to isolate enemies, create relations between countries, or advance their own country. Without such distinct rivals, competition would be difficult if not impossible. (Duan Wu, 2004) Since it is one of the most multi-cultural sporting events issues and tensions between nations tend to rise. Political issues arise due to the fact that different countries with opposing religions and cultures are forced together during the events, and nationalism rises within the countries as well as in the athletes competing. Politics surrounds the Olympic in a variety of ways. Internal politics in the host nation can be very devastating. Internal opposition to holding the Games can cause large protest and violence. Opposing political views, interference by people not involved in the games as well as athletes can cause political problems for the games. The heightened media coverage has caused these interferences to increase. The most prominent way politics interferes with the Olympics is nationalism. (Politics and the Olympics,2007) The immense amount of nationalism present in the Olympic Games creates the political issues surrounding it. Because of the high visibility of the Games and the amount of countries participating, it is a perfect event for advancing a political agenda, and amplifying tensions between countries. Although political influence is evident throughout the Games the IOC, or International Olympic Committee, still declares the political purity of the Games, saying The Olympics really are nothing more than nationalism in a global context. (Duan Wu,2004) This

3 POLITICS IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES 3 extreme non-political agenda creates a catastrophic reaction when a political event disrupts the Games. Ancient Greek Olympic Games were not affected by political issues as much as the Roman Games and the Games today. The Greek Games lasted from 776 AD until 393 AD. These Games were the oldest of four Pan-Hellenic Games. All were more of a religious festival to honor different Gods. The Greeks believed that participating in sport would help them achieve Arete, this encompassed valor, skill, virtue, pride, honor and nobility. (Politics and the Olympics,2007)Participating and winning was for personal gain and very little documentation was kept about who won, how fast races were run, or how far the discus was thrown. Events were broken up into three categories. There were equestrian event that includes the chariot races as well as horse races. Combat events included boxing, wrestling, and pankration. These events were much more dangerous than today. The athletes in many occasions fought till the death, because the humiliation of defeat was unbearable. There were also the athletic events, which are like today s track and field. They included the pentathlon, discus, javelin, and foot races. (Chappelet, ) When the Games took place a peace treaty was spread throughout Greece. This allowed anyone travelling to or from the Games to go without harm, even if they travelled through enemy city-states. (Duan Wu,2004) This peace normally was not broken, but political tension caused by the warring city-states during the Peloponnesian This war caused this peace to be broken when Sparta was banned from the games. Most political issues in the Greek Games came from city-states being banished. The ancient Games were mainly used to advance and bring prestige to the city-states. Many of the

4 POLITICS IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES 4 leaders as well as other important figures entered the games in hopes of bringing a good name to their state. The Olympic Games were also used to create and express political alliances. Athenians, Argives, Mantineans, and Eleans entered into a 100-year military treaty that was symbolized with a bronze statue in the Olympiad. (Politics and the Olympics,2007) Modern Games have changed a lot from the Ancient Geek Games. The size of the Games has grown as well as its reach around the world. It has become such a large event and it keeps expanding. The Games are split into winter games and summer games. Events include most of the ancient athletic event, but there have been many additions. Games such as baseball, basketball, skiing, hockey, and gymnastics have been added. Some more unusual sports like curling, table tennis, shooting, and badminton have also made the cut to become Olympic Sports. Today s Games are stricken with much more political matters then the Greeks. Although most of the political issues publicized seem to be of a negative nature, some good political aspects come from the Games as well. Countries, through the Olympic Games can improve their own standing with their own people, as well enhance or create relations with other countries. The United States used table tennis as a means to improve their relationship with the Republic of China. Argentinean and Brazilian governments used soccer to improve their image. (Cartledge,2001) Even with the positive events, the negative situations are more known and much harder to ignore. Political tensions during the Games were the cause of war, and mass killings. The Munich Games in 1972 is one of the most recognizable events in Olympic History. Arab terrorists captured and killed members the Israeli team. In Mexico City in 1968 students were protesting the games because of the Apartheid, and the government shot and killed them. The

5 POLITICS IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES 5 outcome of soccer games led places like the Congo, Honduras, El Salvador, and Gabon to go to war. (Politics and the Olympics,2007) Issues concerning were the Olympics are held, and the agendas of the government, have strong political connections. During the 1976 Summer Games thirty-two nations refused to attend. These nations were protesting because of New Zealand s strong athletic connection to South Africa during the Apartheid. For twenty years the United States would not give visas to any Eastern German Athletes.(Politics and the Olympics,2007) With all these examples of politics in the Olympic Games it is impossible for the IOC to refute the idea that sports serves as a tool for politics The IOC ignorance about the role of politics in sport and the Olympics has created some drama all its own. The Seoul Games in 1988 caused an uprising among many people. It was a great surprise that the IOC would choose to award the Games to the repressive military government of South Korea, who at that time was still in a struggle with North Korea. The Olympic Games had a tremendous effect of South Korea. By the end of the Games, the old government had peacefully been eliminated and replaced with a new multi-party government, and an electoral democracy. This has caused many people to see just how influential sports especially the Olympic Games can be in political and many other issues Today the Olympics have a sort of political agenda all its own. Humanitarian values have been developing within the principles of the Olympics. The Seoul Games taught people how significant sports could be in political issues. The idea of Olympism has spread tremendously. Olympism can be defined as seeking to elevate sport into the leading edge of

6 POLITICS IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES 6 broader idealistic and universalistic humanitarian mission in the modern world. Strong stances against doping and racism in sport have been advanced. (Times Chilliwack) The Olympic Charter was created to give organization and set guidelines and rules to the Olympic Games. The Charter promotes conserving human dignity, as well as respecting ethical principles. The Games are also supposed to serve as an educational tool for the youth of the world, and promote international friendship. It also states the Games are clearly against any form of discrimination. Even with these ideals the IOC has been known to violate their own principals. The IOC essentially legitimized the Nazi Regime when they granted the 1936 Olympic Games to Berlin. They also allowed the Games to remain in Mexico City, after the massacre of the students protesting. The IOC has turned a blind eye to these governments repressive and abusive government, because they still insist the politics should be kept out of sport. Their view on this matter caused much more political tensions then there need to be. Over the years there have been many thoughts and ideas about trying to reduce or even eliminate politics from the Olympic Games completely. Each idea has been thought over but none have ever been put into action. The most common ideas include reducing the size of the Games, having only one host site, or having only a few permanent sites for the Games. All the ideas have possible advantages, but they could all end up creating more political tensions in the end. People have thought about creating one permanent host site. One idea was having that host site be Greece, since it is the origins of the Games. This idea was dispelled due to the climate, summers are too hot and there is really no winter. People also did not approve a Greece

7 POLITICS IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES 7 because of its government. It was thought that many countries would be opposed to having the games there permanently because of past government policies. The site would need to be somewhere stable with really no political issues. Along with finding the right site, financing would be a big issue. Hosting the Games is a great financial burden. It was suggested that each country pay dues to the host country, but people think that like the United Nations some countries might renege on paying. An answer to that idea was to spread the Games location over multiple cities in the host nation. This plan would solve some of the issues behind having only one site, but it will only create new problems. Having multiply sites for the games would lesson issues over facilities and accommodations, but the greatest affect it will have would be diminishing the impact and celebration of the Olympics. Political tensions would also remain high because the IOC will still be obligated to choose the host nation. (Beck) This may also increase tensions within the host city, when the cities used to the games are chosen. The third suggestion to eliminate politics in the Olympics would be to reduce the overall size of the Games. This would certainly eliminate political interference during the Games. That is because by reducing the size the Games will lose its hype and importance internationally. The whole idea of the games is to bring all nations in to compete and see the power of the nations. Even though we do not like to admit it we like to see the nations go head to head. The idea of eliminating other nations would bring even more political issues in deciding who stays and who goes from the Olympics. By eliminating events, political interventions might be avoided due to lack of interest in the Games, but it would be very difficult. Today there is much more pressure on the IOC to

8 POLITICS IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES 8 expand the Games then to reduce them. If the IOC was to reduce the number of entries the opposite effect would most likely occur. If entries from only the top athletes and teams were allowed the Games would be exclusive to only the major powers in the world. Smaller countries would be shut out causing much more politic tension and unrest throughout the Games. Politics affecting the Olympic Games seems to be a permanent problem. Sport and politics are an intertwined unit. They are connected and although people wish to eliminate its influence over sports it just can t be. Perhaps it is time for proponents of a pure Olympic movement to begin making provisions for the realities of politics in sports If the IOC can soon accept the fact that politics in sport is an inevitable thing, political catastrophe could be avoided. By knowing politics will interfere with sports the IOC could prevent events like the Munich massacre by taking more steps to stop them.

Objectives 1. To identify the importance of the Olympic Games. 2. To identify some important events at the Olympic Games.

The Olympic Games Objectives 1. To identify the importance of the Olympic Games. 2. To identify some important events at the Olympic Games. THE ANCIENT OLYMPIC GAMES The ancient Olympic games were held