Submitted By: Chris Kirk

The issues with the upcoming Olympics in Beijing have been well chronicled. Pollution and health concerns about the food that will be provided to athletes are at the top of the list for the USOC which is taking many steps to alleviate these concerns. As we dig deeper into an article that appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on Sunday however, there are other concerns that are slowly beginning to come to the surface.

Steven Spielberg recently withdrew as an artistic advisor to the opening ceremonies citing that China along with other countries are not doing enough to aid the suffering in Darfur. In addition, a Dutch lawmaker called for a boycott of the opening ceremonies to protest China’s lack of advancement in human rights. Some countries such as Great Brittan have put a specific ban on athletes using the games as a platform for political statements. The United States has taken a different approach:

“The USOC has urged its athletes to come to China well-versed on local customs and on the expectation that the Olympics not be used as a political platform. Much of this has been taught as part of the USOC’s ambassador program that was instituted after the Turin Winter Olympics in the wake of bad behavior from Bode Miller and others in the U.S. delegation.”

The Olympics has long been viewed as the generation of goodwill between nations through competition. However the games have been used in the past to make political statements. These incidents include US boycott of the 1980 Moscow summer Olympics and the Soviets returning the favor in 1984 for the Los Angeles summer Olympics.

Do the Olympics deserve to be used as a political tool? Have we lost sight of the true meaning of the Olympics? The Dutch lawmaker in the article suggests that you can participate in the Olympics without going to the opening ceremony which only serves to glorify the host country. Do you think a boycott of what is being anticipated as the most elaborate opening ceremony in Olympic history might have some effect on China to change its position on human rights? It will be interesting to see what happens in August.