A war party for the Olympics

Is it that time again now? The cruel word “boycott” is making the rounds and is once again associated with the Olympic Games. A look back is therefore urgently important. In 1979, on Christmas Eve, Russia invaded Afghanistan. They wanted to use a communist system for a moment and then go into reverse again. It has become a disaster.

As a result of the invasion, many Western countries did not participate in the 1980 Moscow Olympics. The boycott was led by the USA. The president at the time was Jimmy Carter. A total of 64 countries stayed away from the world's largest sporting event. The retaliation came just four years later, when almost the entire Eastern Bloc gave Los Angeles the cold shoulder. Now Russia has started another war and once again the question arises as to whether a state should be allowed to send its athletes into a peaceful competition while it peppers a neighboring country with bombs, rockets and gunfire. Athletes are also killed. Thomas Bach (l.) and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The two know each other very well. © APA/epa / BARBARA WALTON

Just recently we saw a picture of a completely destroyed outer wall of a residential building. It was surreal. The dining table and chairs were intact. The coach of a boxing team who was eating lunch died. His wife and children were not in the house at the time of the attack. And yet the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, is currently thinking intensively about how he can guide the Russian and Belarusian athletes to the Games in Paris next year in the middle of the war that their government has triggered .

Reconcile instead of dividing From his point of view, one could even understand this request if one tried to observe neutrally. Bach sees the Olympic rings as a unifying force in difficult times. He wants to reconcile and not further divide. Basically, that's a really nice idea, but one that can only be brought to life if the killing stops. And although Russia continues to let its weapons do the talking, Bach is looking for supporters for his project. He has already got the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) on his side. “We share the strong belief in the Olympic movement that athletes should not be excluded from competition because of their passport and that a path for Russian and Belarusian athletes to return to competition should be examined under strict conditions,” the ANOC said. Thomas Bach visited the World Luge Championships in Oberhof at the weekend. © ANSA / HANNIBAL HANSCHKE

And according to Bach, there is even great support for the readmission of athletes from Russia and Belarus. “These considerations are supported by a huge majority worldwide,” Bach told the German television station ZDF, referring, among other things, to the support of the National Olympic Committees from Africa and Asia. Clear. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who has long been isolated in the most important bodies such as the UN, is currently touring Africa and diligently shaking hands with the local despots and autocrats. In many African countries, the respective sports associations are under the control of the respective government and their often high-handed presidents, who would shake hands with the devil in return for appropriate payment and support. Bach should not overestimate this support. Maybe before he continues working on his vision, he should simply travel to Ukraine, directly into the war zone and look at sports facilities that have been destroyed, as well as the entire infrastructure in some places.

What would it look like if Ukraine, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyi has threatened, actually made a boycott of his country for the next Olympic Games in Paris a reality? The Ukrainian athletes would be punished for the IOC's support of a warmongering country. “The Olympic principles and war are fundamentally opposed to each other”; said the head of state of Ukraine and vehemently called on Bach not to allow the “terrorist state of Russia” to the Olympic Games.

A starting ban supports the sanctions With the IOC, the largest and most important sports organization in the world would be siding with a nation that has started a war with no end in sight against another country that is also a member of the IOC. Meanwhile, many athletes from Russia are avoiding possible sanctions. At the European Figure Skating Championships in Espoo last week, 24 Russians competed for other countries, although some of them were still training in Moscow and were looked after by Russian coaches.

In the women's tennis final in Melbourne, a former Russian, who now competes for Kazakhstan, faced off against a Russian who, of course, had to forego her national flag. This is also how it should be handled with Russians and Belarusians in Paris under the sign of the Olympic rings. If that happens, maybe, who knows, history will repeat itself again. If all countries in Europe spoke out against Bach, it would be a strong signal and would support the current sanctions against Russia. Russia's participation in Paris, on the other hand, would be completely counterproductive and basically a shame.

About the author: Sigi Heinrich The multi-award-winning sports journalist (including the German Television Prize, the Bavarian Sports Prize and the Biathlon Award) dedicates his column “Sigi's Peaks” to the entire diversity of sports and sometimes poaches outside his profession. There is no shortage of smiling winks, as are serious comments or provocative theses. There should be something for everyone. After studying sports at the Technical University of Munich, Heinrich was on the editorial team of the Süddeutsche Zeitung for ten years and has been a commentator at Eurosport since 1989.

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A war party for the Olympics

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