As the Winter Olympics kick off in northern Italy, geopolitical tensions are palpable. From unconventional protests against the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to heated debates on Russia’s ostensible ban from competing, international politics is puncturing the veneer of global sportsmanship associated with the Games.
Of course, political realities have never been fully suspended at the Olympics. On the more extreme end of the spectrum, consider the 1936 Winter Games—which, according to Paul Hockenos, “offer an even more dramatic vantage point on Nazi ideology” than Germany’s better-known Summer Olympics that year. Or recall the U.S.-led boycott of the 1980 Moscow Games and the human rights-based criticism of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
As the Winter Olympics kick off in northern Italy, geopolitical tensions are palpable. From unconventional protests against the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to heated debates on Russia’s ostensible ban from competing, international politics is puncturing the veneer of global sportsmanship associated with the Games.
Of course, political realities have never been fully suspended at the Olympics. On the more extreme end of the spectrum, consider the 1936 Winter Games—which, according to Paul Hockenos, “offer an even more dramatic vantage point on Nazi ideology” than Germany’s better-known Summer Olympics that year. Or recall the U.S.-led boycott of the 1980 Moscow Games and the human rights-based criticism of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
That doesn’t mean that the competing delegations won’t strive for what Charlize Theron referred to at Friday’s opening ceremony as a “common humanity.” The Olympics may not live up to the promise of the erstwhile liberal order, but, as Bobby Ghosh writes, “We’ll watch the downhill runs and the figure skating. We’ll marvel at human excellence on ice and snow.” And, if you’re like me, you’ll revel in the drama of the Games and try not to let geopolitics spoil the fun.
Foreign Policy Illustration/Getty Images
The Compromise Olympics
How Milan Cortina became the Winter Games nobody wanted to fight about, according to Bobby Ghosh.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) smiles as he walks past ice hockey star Alexander Ovechkin (third from left) during a hockey legends team match against students in Sochi on Sept. 1, 2015.Mikhail KLIMENTYEV/POOL/AFP/Getty Images
Russia Has Turned Sports Into a Weapon
The Olympic ban is a necessary counter to Moscow’s abuse, Joel Wasserman writes.
Adolf Hitler watches as the crowd below lifts their arms to give the Nazi salute during the Olympic Winter Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria, Germany, on Feb. 17, 1936. UPI/Bettmann/Getty Images
The Other Nazi Olympics
Ninety years ago, Nazi Germany hosted both the Summer and Winter Olympics—but the latter has unjustly gone forgotten, Paul Hockenos writes.
The wind blows a plastic bag past the National Stadium, also known as the Bird’s Nest, in Beijing on Jan. 23, 2008. Guang Niu/Getty Images
The Olympics Have a Dirty History—Literally
But a green sports movement is pushing for change, Madeleine Orr writes.
Actress Katerina Lechou lights the Olympic flame at the Temple of Hera in Olympia, where the Olympic Games were born in 776 B.C., on Oct. 24, 2017.Aris Messinis/AFP via Getty Images
The Pathological Obsession With Moving the Olympics
Having a single host site would be a simple—and entirely traditional—fix for what ails the Games, David Clay Large writes.
