Every new Olympic event unfortunately isn’t just a global stage for lesser known sports, but also a platform for nationalist narratives or the problematic statements by the Olympic governing body IOC. This interview with David Zirin at Salon.com highlights the corruption surrounding this year’s winter games in Sochi.
I want to make a more general point in response to a problematic quote in the piece by Thomas Bach, German head of the IOC:
“International Olympic Committee head Thomas Bach declared the organization “grateful to those who respect the fact that sport can only contribute to the development of peace if it’s not used as a stage for political dissent, or for trying to score points in internal or external contexts.”
Even if we leave aside that the Russian prohibition against gay ‘propaganda’ that is at the center of most protests basically prohibits being a LGBT person in public: This opinion that the games and political dissent can’t go together is problematic. It shows that the IOC is more committed to commercialism, power play, and money than to the Olympic principles Bach refers to in his own statement. An actual position of peace, friendly togetherness, equality, and human rights between diverse groups of athletes and audience is a position of dissent in many national and international contexts.
I enjoy the games. I’m not against large sporting events, commercial sponsors, and nation-states in general, though I am troubled by some excesses. Bach’s declaration made me mad nevertheless. Claiming political dissent, peace, and the Olympic Games don’t go together is ignorant and dishonest.
Thoughts?