Politics and the Olympic Games seem to, for better or for worse, go hand in hand.
As the Chinese offences in Tibet become increasingly publicized, talk of boycotting the Beijing Games is gathering momentum.
A possible boycott brings back sour memories of the 1980 Moscow Summer Games, which saw the largest boycott in Olympic history with more than 60 nations - including Canada and the United States - pulling out. Four years later, the Soviet Union and 14 of its Eastern Block partners refused to compete in the Los Angeles Games as retaliation.
Sports leaders and athletes are anxiously watching and speaking out about the current situation.
Richard Pound, the former head of the World Anti Doping Agency and a longtime member of the International Olympic Committee, told CBC’s Scott Russell that he feels boycotts are a misguided use of the Games in order to exercise minimal political clout.
And athletes, such as former Canadian gymnast and medal hopeful Elfi Schlegel - one of the victims of the 1980 boycott - are painfully reminded of what might have been.
Does it make sense to boycott the Beijing Olympic Games? Should governments use the Olympic Games as a stage for their political protests?
More...
As the Chinese offences in Tibet become increasingly publicized, talk of boycotting the Beijing Games is gathering momentum.
A possible boycott brings back sour memories of the 1980 Moscow Summer Games, which saw the largest boycott in Olympic history with more than 60 nations - including Canada and the United States - pulling out. Four years later, the Soviet Union and 14 of its Eastern Block partners refused to compete in the Los Angeles Games as retaliation.
Sports leaders and athletes are anxiously watching and speaking out about the current situation.
Richard Pound, the former head of the World Anti Doping Agency and a longtime member of the International Olympic Committee, told CBC’s Scott Russell that he feels boycotts are a misguided use of the Games in order to exercise minimal political clout.
And athletes, such as former Canadian gymnast and medal hopeful Elfi Schlegel - one of the victims of the 1980 boycott - are painfully reminded of what might have been.
Does it make sense to boycott the Beijing Olympic Games? Should governments use the Olympic Games as a stage for their political protests?
More...