POLITICS AND THE OLYMPICS

The student will:

• create a timeline of Olympic Games of the Modern Era where international politics played a major role.
• analyze the impact of these events on past and future Olympic Games.

The Olympic Games of the Modern Era have given the world some of the most dramatic stories of the human experience. During the Olympics, the eyes of the world tune in on billions of televisions to witness the best athletes in the world meet in a spirit of fair competition and camaraderie. 

The Olympics are one the few instances where citizens of the world can share a common experience that doesn’t involve war or oppression. The modern Olympics were founded on the goal “to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of man with the view to promoting a peaceful society….” The intention of the founders of the modern Olympic was to have politics and even nationalism take a back seat to the individual athletes and the spirit of human competition.

However, even in the first modern Olympics when the athletics marched into the stadiums behind national flags and anthems, politics has played a part. The Olympics have been host to government sponsored racism, political vengeance through boycotts, demonstrations of nationalism by subjected people, terrorism, and individual protest.

This activity will provide students with a historical perspective of how politics have been present in the modern Olympics and a chance to analyze the concerns of politicing in the Olympic Games.

Activity One: Building a Timeline on Political Events during the Olympics

• Hand out and read aloud the Fundamental Principles of Olympism
• Lead a classroom discussion about the principles. Does anything stand out as surprising?
• Next, divide the class into small groups and distribute the student handout “Timeline of Political Incidents at Past Olympic Games.” Assign each group one of the events. Each event has a description of the major political incident. Remind students that these are just brief descriptions and their research will turn up more information and possibly other incidents.
• Review the instructions with students and have each group create a timeline entry of the event on butcher paper or entered on computer using timeline software, PowerPoint presentation, or an Excel spreadsheet.
• Present each event to the class and display around the room or on class website.
• Debriefing Questions:
  • In what events was there a “state sponsored” act of political expression, where a country’s government made the political statement?
  • In what events was there political statements made by individuals or groups of individuals?
  • Explain whether you believe any of these actions have a place in the Olympics?