The Olympics Should Not Be Politicized

The modern Olympic games have been around for over 200 years and were inspired by the Greek’s Olympics thousands of years before us. It’s a time when states across the globe bring their best athletes to compete with one another. International competition at it’s finest. It’s a symbol of cooperation and states willingness to put politics aside for something that is greater than themselves. With the prevalence of social media in the everyday lives of people across the globe, our leaders can communicate with one another minutes after something happens. This makes it significantly easier for our governments to politicize everything through quick responses and the ease of access to the world’s flow of information. In order to retain the purity of this ancient tradition lasting thousands of years, the politicization of the Olympics needs to stop before it is allowed to grow.

               On February 5^th the IOC officially refused to allow 15 Russians to compete in the 2017 winter Olympics even though they were cleared of doping. 13 Russians and 2 coaches were refused their request to compete by the International Olympic Committee even though their lifetime bands were overturned by the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport. The CAS ruled that there was “insufficient evidence to show that they had broken doping rules during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.” The IOC then stated that “the privilege to be invited requires more than just the absence of a sanction.” What if not being the best athletes in your country do you need to be accepted into the Olympics? Especially after being cleared of all doping charges due to insufficient evidence. Vladimir Putin himself has responded to this refusal and stated that the problem of doping in the Olympics is an international one, not one that resides primarily in Russia. While Putin isn’t the pinnacle of integrity, I think this statement has some merit to it. Putin himself is likely one of the reasons that the IOC refused to allow access to these Russian athletes. Their refusal is a prime example of the beginning of politicization for the Olympic games that will only grow if there are not stricter regulations on the committees who approve athletes with concrete assurances for unbiased decisions regarding admission, regardless of whatever country an athlete calls home.

At a time when tensions are on the rise between the United States, Russia, and especially North Korea, the Olympic games can provide a much-needed release from international politics. The IOC’s refusal to allow the Russian athletes to participate is an example of how politics has begun to leak into every aspect of our lives. The North Koreans are even going to compete under the same flag as South Korea. This is one example of positive benefits that the Olympics can have on foreign relations. The Olympic games provide an opportunity for countries of varying political ideology and culture to come together for pure competition with one another. North and South Korea hadn’t spoken for years until authorities under Kim Jung-un’s regime contacted South Korea to discuss participating in the winter Olympics. This is an important step in rebuilding the relationship between the two countries and can help the leaders of both to put aside their differences for however brief a period of time. In order to maintain this level of purity at these international competitions, any number of strict regulations and changes may have to be implemented into the process.

While I’m no expert on the admittance of athletes into the Olympic games by any means, it’s clear to me that from what just happened with the Russians, that there are some problems with the process. I think that in order to prevent this kind of thing from happening more and more frequently, with whatever country is having domestic or international issues at the time, the IOC should be forced to implement more rules on the admittance process. I think that one way to do this is by using IGOs like the U.N. to giver recommendations on who should be in charge of the athlete admittance process or let them do it themselves. I think that this would work because even if international organizations have no enforcement power over international affairs, the Olympic games isn’t anything that would violate the sovereignty of the state that’s hosting it. With the games being hosted by different countries each time, the rules would be temporary oversight from whatever international organization is approving the people who approve athletes. The responsibility could even be transferred from different international organizations depending on the region that the games is taking place in. If it’s somewhere in Europe, then the EU could do it. If IGO’s were allowed some authority on who is appointed to approve athletes admittance, then the legitimacy of the Olympic games could be withheld and the polarization process frozen. 

By: Spencer White