EDITORIAL: Olympic athletes face tough choices

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Canadian Olympic athletes must do some soul-searching and decide if they really want to be party to the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics. If the answer is yes – and we understand their dedication and the training that’s gone into these Games – then the next question is how will they behave?

The Olympics are always political. In Mexico in 1968, two Americans raised their fists in a Black Power salute on the podium.

In 1948, Germany and Japan were banned from the first Olympics after the Second World War. African nations boycotted the Montreal Olympics in 1976. The Moscow Olympics of 1980 were boycotted by the West after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. In a tit-for-tat retaliation, the Soviet Bloc boycotted the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

Terrorists murdered Israeli athletes at the tragic 1972 Munich Olympics. Nazi Germany hoped to use the 1936 Berlin Games as a showcase for Aryan superiority. African-American sprinter Jesse Owens put that myth to rest with four gold medals.

We welcomed the move by the Canadian government to join the diplomatic boycott of the Games. Many Western nations will not be sending government representatives to the Games, to protest China’s human rights abuses.

The NHL has wisely bowed out, citing fears about COVID. A greater fear might be losing an elite hockey player to an extended quarantine in China.

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Here’s the dilemma facing our athletes: China has shown itself to be intolerant of any form of dissent or criticism of its regime. If any athlete dares protest Chinese human rights abuses, what will happen? Will they be incarcerated for 1,020 days, as happened to Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig? Not to acknowledge their abysmal record sends a message that athletes just don’t care.

Young athletes in the West are fond of sending messages to their democratic governments – whether in a raised fist or a bended knee. Chinese officials will not tolerate such public gestures if Western athletes were to protest the oppression of democracy in Hong Kong.

These are troubling thoughts our athletes must wrestle with. The International Olympic Committee should keep them in mind whenever they choose a host city for the Games. Next time, pick a free and democratic country and avoid rewarding international bullies with prestigious events.