The Olympics: Is It Just About Sports?

Manila, Philippines – The idea behind the Olympics seem simple enough to comprehend: nations get together every four years to celebrate community spirit with a sports extravaganza in friendly competition. No talk of politics, right?

Indeed, when the Olympics started in Ancient Greece, athletes – all young men – usually competed in the nude. After all, the festival was all about celebrating human achievement. Winners were presented with a crown of olive leaves, which represented hope and peace. Never mind the anatomical distractions, I guess.

Hmm, just imagine how stratospheric TV ratings would go if athletes at the Beijing games turned the sportsfest into a skinfest as well. Not to mention the mob trying to get into the stadium to see the – what else? – spectacle. Even the FHM, Maxim, Penthouse, Playboy and Playgirl photographers would be there.

So, if the Olympics is all about who’s the fastest and the strongest, then why all the uproar over China’s stranglehold on Tibet? You’d think that the security blanket thrown around the Olympic torch parade by governments from Paris to Seoul were guarding visiting heads of state from possible terrorist attacks.

For one, historically, Olympic games held in repressive regimes often got the cold shoulder from the international community.

In 1980, the United States led a boycott of the Moscow Olympics in protest of the December 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Never mind the Soviet troop atrocities on Afghan villagers. Thanks to the Taliban and Osama bin Laden, we are now reeling from the shockwaves of that war.

Then there’s the 1936 games in Berlin. France and Britain – both of which had fresh memories of World War I – were getting nervous of Hitler’s goose-stepping troops and were seething over the Nazis’ treatment of Jews. A possibility of a boycott loomed.

Hitler allowed token Jews to compete for Germany to defuse the situation – and the games went on. Never mind its anti-Jewish policies. Never mind Germany’s growing military might.

Finally, the charade ended on September 1, 1939, when Germany invaded Poland and began the nightmare of World War II. So much for the Olympic spirit.

There was already concern among human rights activists that Beijing might win the bid for the 2008 Summer Olympics mainly because of China’s poor human rights record and, of course, its occupation of Tibet.

Apparently, what governments do to their own people or to others isn’t part of the International Olympic Committee criteria of selecting Olympic host cities. So what if the Chinese are shipping AK-47 Kalashnikov assault rifles, grenades and mortars to Darfur, right?

In fairness, the International Olympic Committee is a sports governing body, not a political institution. Of importance to them are the following: the size of your stadiums, the efficiency of your transportation system, the reliability of your security forces, the sufficiency of your hotels, et cetera. They don’t ask how many tanks you have, how many political detainees are locked up, how many police officers are listening in on your conversation.

While the Olympics may be about international community camaraderie, however, the very idea behind the sports extravaganza may explain why pro-Tibet protesters want to play firefighter and throw water on the Olympic torch.

Take the 1936 Berlin Olympics for example. The hosting of games was awarded to Germany in 1931, two years before Hitler took over the reigns of power. For the Nazis, the Olympics was an excellent opportunity to demonstrate their ideology of Aryan racial supremacy and for the Third Reich to show its best face to the world. In other words, to project an image of respectability.

Anti-Semitic posters that were plastered all over Germany disappeared and “Jews not welcome here” signs at businesses were out of sight during the games to ensure that the games went smoothly and nothing upset foreign visitors.

Obviously, international community spirit and “love thy neighbor” don’t mean sending tanks across the border.

What if history had been different? What if the hosting of the 1936 games had gone to Tokyo instead? What would the international community have said? Never mind the Japanese invasion of Manchuria?

Our basic human nature is perhaps the best explanation for the indignation against the Beijing Olympics. It tells us to rush in to the aid of others when needed. It’s just the right thing to do.

That’s why people just jump in to rescue drowning swimmers. That’s why we call the police when we discover over possessive fathers next door locking up their children in cellars. That’s why we send emergency rescuers when disasters befall peoples half-way around the world. That’s why the despair in Darfur matters to us.

If we should be kind to animals, shouldn’t we care more about people?

While I’d like to buy Beijing’s assertion that Tibet historically belongs to China, I can’t forget the time when a group of Chinese journalists dropped by our Manila newspaper office one morning for a look-see. Of course, our most lovable Chinese-Filipino Sunday magazine editor played goodwill ambassador.

“They kept asking, does the president of the company review the news stories? Does the government review them?” our exasperated goodwill ambassador later related to me. “I explained and explained but they just couldn’t grasp the concept of editorial independence.”

Never mind the absence of freedom of choice, right? Just enjoy the games.