Beijing Boycott

With less than 100 days until the much anticipated Beijing games start excitement and protest is building at a frantic pace. We are being swamped with reports about China’s brutal suppression of Tibetan protesters and the human rights issues surrounding Tibet, but no one is seriously calling for an Olympic Boycott… and why should they be?

Of course nobody can condone what is happening in Tibet, with the little information most of us have, but it is a separate issue to the Olympic Games. When Pierre De Coubertin revived the modern games he aspired to keep the games separate from all politics. This tradition remains part of the Olympic spirit today although it isn’t always honored.

Most sports fans would remember the boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Australia did not boycott the games despite recommendation to do so in order to support the US backed Taliban led by Osama Bin Laden overthrowing the United Nations recognised Afghan government.

This was very successful in demonstrated just how ineffective a boycott can be. Only nine years later the Soviets were in Afghanistan. So the major effect of this boycott was denying a generation of athletes from America and other countries the chance for Olympic glory. The lesson? Boycotts don’t always work.

For the sake of balance we should consider the many legitimate reasons to boycott China. The suppression of democracy, suppression of religious freedom, cultural genocide, the forced evictions to make space for Olympic sites, the countries rate of executions, animal cruelty and the Animal Olympics are all serious issues. The censorship laws are of concern for the media with more journalists gaoled in China than any other country.

The threat to the athlete’s health is a big concern also. 40 Chinese athletes have been forced out of the games after falling ill from bad air conditioning, and the Australian athletes will be wearing protective contacts at all time.

China’s athletes also have a history of taking performance enhancing drugs and then performing badly when they know strict testing is in order. Before the Sydney Games 58 athletes recorded times at the trials which would have won medals but at the games but Liping Wang was the only Chinese athlete to win a medal in Sydney. What’s worse is that she was the one to take Jane Saville’s gold in the 20km walk.

No doubt there are plenty of legitimate reasons to boycott. It would be an embarrassment for China and there economy would suffer but they would probably stay strong on their stance in Tibet. Especially since according to their foreign minister Tibet is not part of the real China. China is about the games and technology and that’s all the world media should be reporting!

So who does the boycott do its damage on? The athlete’s of course. They are the only ones who have dedicated their lives to a sport in hope of fulfilling their dream of being an Olympian. For these athletes there isn’t always next year, there is only next Olympiad and at the top level a lot can change in four years.

Why should Grant Hackett be denied the chance to make history in the 1500m by becoming the first male athlete to win the same event at three Olympics? Why should Stephanie Rice or many of our other new world record holders in the pool miss the chance for eternal glory in the peak of their career? Apparently it’s because much of the world doesn’t agree with China’s laws so their answer is to punish athletes.

Luckily the threat of a boycott was never a real issue for Australia. This great sporting nation is one of only a handful of countries to never miss an Olympic Games, a tradition which the AOC is very proud of and doesn’t intend on changing.

So let’s hope the games are safe for everyone involved and that Australia has their best games yet!