Jason Schwanz dot com

Politics and Sport

Filed under Politics, Sports

There’s been a lot in the news lately about the growing tension surrounding China, Tibet, and the upcoming Olympic Games.  I find a lot of, I dunno, personal unrest, and lack of answers for “what’s right” in this situation.

First off, reference this article.

[Hein] Verbruggen [the IOC coordinator for the 2008 Olympics] reiterated the IOC’s position that athletes must respect the Olympic charter and that the games were “not a place for political gestures”.

That’s funny, you forgot to tell that to history.  Berlin in 1936 was all about promoting the Nazi view.  Moscow in 1980 was over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.  LA in 1984 was mostly seen as a retaliation for 1980.  And definitely not outdone by 1968 in Mexico City — while done by individuals and not nations, still a very politically powerful move.

Anything international is political, especially something as competitive and “friendly” as sport.  National pride is on the line; we’re better than you.  ”Right” and “wrong” is one the line; our politics/policies are the way things should be.  Good v. Evil at the water polo venue in 45 minutes; stupid Commies are going down!

That brings us to today, and my reason for posting this.  The Olympic torch is making it’s 85,000 mile trek, and today was in London, where it received a very “exciting” welcome.  Some protester tried to take it, and another tried to put it out with a fire extinguisher!

My tension comes where the politics meet the field/mat/pool/court.

On one hand, the struggle in Tibet is very, very real.  The oft-reported human rights abuses in China are very real.  China’s (thankfully currently restrained) military might is very real.

On the other, these are (mostly) amateur athletes, competing at the highest levels, for their respective countries.  Most of them make enough money to survive, but not enough to live comfortably.  Especially when it comes to basketball, professional teammates shift gears and compete against each other.

And there’s the rub.  Once you pull on that uniform, once you are wearing something that says USA, Canada, Jamaica, Venezuela, Australia, China, etc. you are not just an athlete competing for yourself.  You are an athlete with thousands and millions of people behind you, and you represent them.

I just don’t know how to react.  The IOC is in fact not a political organization.  The Olympic Games, however, have a history of being politicized in both healthy and unhealthy ways.  This upcoming Olympic Games is being politicized, for what I perceive as healthy reasons.  I just am struggling to find internal peace with a “just and reasonable” way to express the political views.  I guess I just have to wait until history happens to see how well international leadership handles this politically non-political situation.

Tags: China, Olympics, Tibet