The Olympics are supposed to be a grand sporting event that celebrates athletes and international competition. Thanks to authoritarian regimes, the games are losing more and more of their luster.
The problem is not just with the International Olympic Committee, the despicable and corrupt collection of elitists who let Vladimir Putin’s Russia and genocidal China host the games. The IOC is a mess, and its criteria for hosting the Olympics must be re-evaluated by the world now that the 2022 Winter Olympics just wrapped up in Beijing. The IOC is awful, but it alone is not tarnishing the Olympic spirit.
Take Russia, for example. In a bid for Olympic glory, the country ran a state-sanctioned doping operation. Russia did so knowing Olympic victories make for good propaganda and knowing the country would not be punished. Russian athletes merely had to compete under the Russian Olympic Committee flag rather than the national flag for two years.
Naturally, it was no deterrent. Scandal befell the 2022 Olympics yet again, as 15-year-old figure skater Kamila Valieva tested positive for a banned drug after helping Russia win gold. She was given the green light to continue competing only to have a disastrous performance, likely wilting under the pressure. Given Russia’s history with doping and its abusive training for figure skaters, it’s not likely the 15-year-old Valieva stumbled upon a banned substance without some guidance.
Sometimes, individual athletes choose the decay. With a single-minded focus on making the Olympics, several Americans competed for China’s team. Most notably, that included Eileen Gu, a San Francisco native born and raised in California. Gu, a freestyle skier, won three medals, including two golds, and served as a propaganda prop for China’s genocidal regime. Naturally, the Olympics celebrated her.
It’s time for the final pair of #TheVisaAward moments! Who gets your vote?
Is it Eileen Gu’s successes helping inspire young girls of all backgrounds, or Dutch speed skater Kai Verbij choosing to sacrifice his own chances of a medal instead of risking his rival’s race. Vote now!
— Olympics (@Olympics) February 21, 2022
These incidents are not new. Cuban boxers frequently dominate the Olympics before trying to make the dangerous escape from the country to be free elsewhere. Like China and Russia, Cuba is an authoritarian state that uses its Olympic victories to propagandize to the world. Watching Olympic boxing becomes a little different when you know the Cuban athlete is likely thinking about how he will flee the country to pursue a professional career. The Olympic website touts Cuba’s “unparalleled success” in boxing.
More and more, these abusive authoritarian regimes are becoming what defines the Olympics. It is impossible to watch Russian athletes compete without thinking of the doping scandals, or to see Chinese athletes without knowing how they will be used for propaganda. The Olympic spirit is in decay, and the very authoritarians the IOC panders to are responsible for it.
