Please don't politicize the Olympics

Anyone who has been following the news this week knows that the Olympic torch relay, which precedes the Olympic games is under way. You may also know that that relay has been fraught with interruptions, protests and lots of grand-standing. The subject of all this distress is China's treatment of Tibet, a small region that most Americans would have trouble finding on a map. It is true that China has been represssing Tibet for over 50 years now, and it is true that they are heavy-handed in dealing with the small Himalayan region, but my question is what does this have to do with the Olympics? I understand that the Olympic Games cast the host city into a limelight, but that doesn't mean they need to be politicized. The Olympics are supposed to be beyond politics, Hu Jintao won't be throwing the javelin, Nicholas Sarkoszy won't be running the 100m dash, and George Bush and Vladimir Putin won't be involved in synchronized swimming this summer. These world leaders have nothing to do with the Olympic Games, it should stay that way. I truly hope, for the athletes sake, that this doesn't turn into the 1980 and 1984 Summer Olympics.

In 1980, Jimmy Carter believed it to be the duty of the United States to boycott the Olympics in Moscow to protest the Soviet's invasion of Afghanistan. Sixty-two other countries joined in this protest. The Soviets retaliated by boycotting the Los Angeles Games in 1984. Political posturing won the day, but it was the athletes who lost. These athletes trained their entire lives to compete against the best in the Olympics. They gave their proverbial blood, sweat and tears to get to compete, and they could not. Why? Because their home country didn't like the politics of another's.

Politics and Policy have their time and their place. Every day, there is some speech by some politician, either applauding or decrying some country's foreign or domestic policy. That opinion can change from day to day, as politicians are notorious for this activity. The summer of 2008 will come and go, and eventually the world will again forget about Tibet, as they have for the last half-century. But, if we boycott the Olympics for that purpose, what have we gained? A headline today and a Wikipedia article tomorrow, not much else. All these athletes who have worked all their life for the opportunity to compete on the world stage, they will lose. For many, this is their only chance to compete. Politics and the Olympic Games should not mix. The world leaders can say what they want, they always do, but leave the games to the athletes.