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Politics of the Olympics

Britain’s most successful athlete at the 2008 Beijing Olympics was triple gold medallist Chris Hoy. Coming from Scotland, Hoy found himself being pulled into a political debate about Scottish independence versus British union. He was furious that his achievement was being used like this saying, “I ride a bike. I am not a politician.”

Despite chapter five of the Olympic charter stating, 'No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in the Olympic areas', politics and the Olympics have proved inseparable from the beginning of the modern games.

Athens 1906 – Irish Independence

At the beginning of the twentieth century all of Ireland was part of Great Britain. Peter O’Connor, winner of the gold medal for the triple jump, climbed up the flagpole with the Irish tricolour, rather than receive his medal under the Union Jack. This was the first real political protest at the Olympics.

Antwerp 1920 – The Olympic Ideal

The Great War was over and Europe was shattered. The games at Antwerp were seen as an opportunity to create a sense of brotherhood and peace after the horror of war. It was at these games that the Olympic flag was first flown and the Olympic anthem first sung.

Berlin 1936 – Nazi Germany

Hitler saw the games of 1936 as a way to prove to the world his theories of racial superiority. These were smashed, however, when African American Jesse Owens beat the German, Lutz Long, to claim gold in the long jump.

It was also at the 1936 games that the torch relay was introduced by the Nazi regime. This is perhaps the only piece of Nazi symbolism that the world does not find abhorrent.

London 1948 – Great British Spirit

Europe was again devastated by war, and London had suffered terribly from German bombing. For the first time the games were used officially and overtly as a political tool. Germany and Japan were not invited in recognition of their roles in the war.

Although London was struggling, the games were a huge success. The population supported the games completely, and the athletes even brought their own food to reduce expanses for the city.

Mexico City 1968 – Black Power

In the year that John F Kennedy and Martin Luther King were assassinated, there was little chance that politics would not feature in the Olympics.

After coming first and second in the 200m, sprinters Tommy Smith and John Carlos raised their black-gloved fists in salute while standing on the winners’ podium. It was a gesture of support for the civil rights and black power movements in the US at the time. However, the Olympic committee decided it was against the Olympic ideal and both athletes were expelled from the games.

Munich 1972 – Terror and Tragedy

Eleven Israeli athletes were kidnapped and eventually murdered by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 games. Politics had always been part of the Olympics, but after 1972, terrorism has remained a constant threat for the organisers.

Sydney 2000

Cathy Freeman, an aboriginal Australian was chosen to light the Olympic flame, and therefore symbolise the unity between the countries white and aborigine population. Ten days later she won the 400m gold, and prompted the Australian government to issue a full apology for the mistreatment of the aborigine people in the past.

London 2012

The prospect of the London games not being politicised are slim. Already the very question of ‘British-ness’ is being raised, and many think that it is unfair that London should benefit at the expense of the rest of the country.

Yet, rather than cling to the ideals of the Olympic charter, perhaps we should embrace the political issues that the Olympics have always presented, and London 2012 could be the platform for open democratic political debate, as well as the showcase for sporting excellence and brotherhood.

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