While 140 nations gathered in Los Angeles in 1984 to celebrate and honor sportsmanship, 14 countries did not show up at the Summer Olympics. Led by the Soviet Union, the 14 Eastern Bloc countries, the boycott was the Soviet’s retaliation for the U.S boycott of the previous Olympics, which was held in the Soviet Union in 1980. More than 60 countries joined the American-led boycott that year to protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Although the International Olympics Committee denies it, politics has always been present in every Olympic. As a matter of fact, politics and Olympics have shared a symbiotic relationship throughout history and they have never been separable, just like the inseparable church and state of Medieval Europe. 

As it has always been, geopolitics has been a significant part of the Olympics this year again. From boycotting to defining citizenship, the world’s biggest sporting event was confronted and meddled with so many political issues and controversies. Because politics has been involved in the Olympics for so long, it’s fruitless even to debate whether politicizing the Olympics is right or wrong. Rather, the question we should raise is: to what extent do we allow sports to be political?

Lately, sports has become an efficient tool of empowerment and activism. For instance, Raven Saunders’ gesture of crossing her hands into an X, which represents the intersection of where all the oppressed meet, demonstrated to be a valuable and empowering voice for the oppressed in our global community. In such case, global sporting events like the Olympics become invaluable platforms for our humanity and social justice. On the other hand, politicians have occasionally used sports to achieve their jingoistic goals. Nazi Germany, for instance, used and manipulated the Olympics for propaganda purposes in 1936, promoting itself as a strong and united nation while concealing its scapegoating of Jews.  

To ensure that politicization of sports is morally and ethically purposeful, helping our global community get closer to preserving social justice, the International Olympic Committee needs to execute its goal and vision – building a better world through sport.