Letters | Olympic history shows sports and politics are intertwined – but athletes can bring harmony

Readers discuss the Olympic Games, Covid-19 hardships in Hong Kong and the mainland, and Chinese reactions to the call for baby-boosting slogans

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Bronze medallist in the long jump Naoto Tajima of Japan, gold medallist Jesse Owens of the United States and silver medallist Lutz Long of Germany salute during the medals ceremony on August 11, 1936, at the Summer Olympics in Berlin. Owens dominated the 1936 games with four gold medals, refuting Nazi claims of white racial superiority; he and Long reportedly became lifelong friends. Photo: AP

Published: 7:00am, 11 Aug 2021Updated: 7:00am, 11 Aug 2021

Whether politics has any place in international sports events has been a controversy for decades. Many politicians argue that in the interest of athletes and harmony between all nations, sports must be kept out of politics.

Some even contend that sports has nothing to do with politics. These assertions seem very plausible but are unrealistic upon deeper scrutiny, especially when we turn to history.

Adolf Hitler, the German dictator and fascist, wanted to use the 1936 Berlin Olympics to bolster his theories of racial superiority. Germany did win the most gold medals in the games that year, but the Greater Germanic Reich disintegrated at the end of World War II.

As a result of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan, the Moscow Olympiad in 1980 was boycotted by the United States and its allies. In response, 14 Eastern Bloc countries, led by the former Soviet Union, boycotted the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Some athletes from nations with great ambition in the recently concluded Tokyo Olympics seem to be trained as instruments to manifest the power of their nations rather than the Olympic creed, “The important thing in life is not the triumph, but the fight; the essential thing is not to have won, but to have fought well.”

Meanwhile, some Chinese athletes managed to reverse their reputation for being arrogant and disrespectful. Soon after being defeated by Indonesia 0-2 in the badminton women’s doubles, Chinese athletes warmly congratulated the winners. This shows the Olympic spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.