The Olympic Games and politics

With the Tibetans' struggle for freedom and the Beijing Olympics in mind, Csaba Gombár reflects on the relationship between sport and politics: "The case put forward by those who defend the Olympics is as follows: let us not mix sport with politics. Fair enough. No one can claim that the high jump is a political act. However without politics the Olympic Games would not have been possible back in Ancient Greece and nor would they be possible today. The Olympic Games themselves, the preparations for them, their financing and their symbolic omnipresence are all the product of fierce competition between nation states - or in other words political communities. To classify an interpersonal and, more importantly, intergovernmental relationship of this nature as free of politics, borders on thoughtless ignorance, to say the least. As a framework for interpersonal relations, politics does not sully athletic competition. On the contrary, by guaranteeing peace politics makes such competition possible. Perhaps this is another way of looking at the relationship between politics and sport."

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