To compete in the Olympics is one of the highest honors an athlete can ever come by. They have been around for centuries, and for centuries athletes have come and gave it their all.
The International Olympics Committee contains over 200 countries. There is no type of event, sporting or otherwise, around the world that can come close to how huge the Olympics are. That being so, many people over the years have used, or tried to use, the Olympics for political reasons.
Take this years up and coming Olympics. The Olympics are to be held in Beijing, China. This has many people around the world up in arms. Their angry over China’s treatment of Tibet, and over their support for the genocide in Darfur. Many people are protesting the games, and using the international media coverage of them to get out their messages.
Herein lies the problem. The Olympics are supposed to be an international sporting event and nothing more. The Olympics are supposed to be were the best athletes from ever country gather to compete and hopefully win the honor of being the best in the world. The only things that should matter in the Olympics is athleticism.
Throughout history people have tried to use the Olympics for political reasons. In the end everyone suffers. For example: athletes from the Islamic Republic or Iran are not allowed to compete in any heat in which an Israel athlete is.
When people fight, it’s the athletes who lose out. We need to remember that the games are about athleticism pure and simple. Leave the politics behind and enjoy the events
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Have you ever read The Art of War by Sun Tzu? It is an ancient Chinese text that is required reading upon entry into the US military. It is pretty much just a book full of bits of advice when going to war, and one of the major themes is winning a war without fighting in any battle. The battlefield therefore becomes the economy, sports, television, ect. The battlefield becomes the Olympics. It costs less lives this way, and it gives us the upper hand.