The IOC has an opportunity to disavow the violence and illegality of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by extending the platform and status of refugee athletes to Russian and Belarusian athletes.
It remains to be seen how sports organisations implement and regulate transgender guidelines if some sporting bodies refuse to voluntarily adopt them.
Andrew Parsons, president of the International Paralympic Committee, speaks at the opening ceremony at the 2022 Winter Paralympics. The IPC announced on March 3 that all athletes from Russia and Belarus would be barred from competing.
(AP Photo/Andy Wong)
It’s time for organizations like the IPC to stop lamenting the intersection of sport and politics, and instead accept this well-established reality going forward.
Yannick Kluch, Virginia Commonwealth University and Eli Wolff, University of Connecticut
The International Olympic Committee oversees several humanitarian initiatives. But it avoids letting human rights concerns interfere with the Games, even in countries with rampant violations.
Kamila Valieva, of the Russian Olympic Committee, reacts after competing in the women’s free skate program.
(AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
The well-being of Olympians is of secondary importance is secondary to pomp and profit.
Actors cheer as President of the China, Xi Jinping, arrives for the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics on Feb. 4 in Beijing.
(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Few nations know how to politicize the Olympics as effectively as China does.
The International Olympic Committee has a demonstrated history of controlling athletes’ public statements, despite claiming that athletes are free to express their opinions in press conferences, in media interviews and on social media.
(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
The mainstream embrace of snowboarding for its youthful audience and sponsorship riches also dented its once-alternative image – but a new generation of stars could change all that.
Protesters rally against the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Los Angeles in December.
Damian Dovarganes/AP
China has been unfazed by diplomatic boycotts by the west. In Beijing’s eyes, the Olympics still have broad support by many nations and, importantly, corporate sponsors.
The boycott is ambiguous and will undermine the value of sport in diplomacy.
The editor of a Communist Party newspaper posted a video online that he said showed missing tennis star Peng Shuai as the ruling party tried to quell fears abroad while suppressing information in China about Peng after she accused a senior leader of sexual assault.
(AP Photo/Andy Brownbill)
The disappearance of Peng further underlines the need for an international boycott of the 2022 Beijing Olympics. The CCP’s assaults on democracy activists deserve more than willful blindness.
In the face of China’s repression and human rights abuses, a scholar asks whether cheerful media coverage of the Beijing Olympics in February 2022 signals complicity with Chinese propaganda.
Children wave national flags and Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games flags during a welcome ceremony for the Frame of Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 in October, 2021.
(AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Olympians and Paralympians can uplift the voices of Celil’s family and supporters by calling for his release over the next four months. Academics, journalists and activists should join in solidarity.
Activists wearing masks of IOC President Thomas Bach and Chinese President Xi Jinping pose in front of the Olympic Rings during a street protest in India against the holding of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
(AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)
Olympic broadcasters can help Canadians support the Uyghurs, Tibetans, pro-democracy advocates and others fighting for their human rights in China by cancelling their Olympic coverage.
The Olympic flag is lowered during the closing ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics – the first Games to be held without spectators because of concerns of spreading COVID-19.
(AP Photo/David Goldman)
The Olympics will have to be adaptable in order to keep up with the rapidly shifting economic landscape and changing interest in the Games if it wants to continue to turn massive profits.
Attendees wearing face masks to protect against the spread of the coronavirus look at an exhibit at a visitors center at the Winter Olympic venues in Beijing in February. Human rights groups have called for a boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics due to reported human rights abuses against ethnic minorities in China.
(AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Instead of boycotting the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing, activists should pressure the IOC to let anyone attending the Games to express their views on China without fear of penalization.
Belarus sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya is part of a long history of athletes seeking protection or the chance to start a new life at the Olympics.
The 1964 Olympics in Tokyo banned all athletes who took part in a counter-competition a year earlier called the Games of the New Emerging Forces, which were dubbed the left-wing Olympics
(AP Photo)