The writer is a member of the International Olympic Committee and won a bronze at the 1976 Olympics
A chorus of voices — from UK politicians to Nikki Haley, the former US ambassador to the UN — have recently called for their countries to boycott the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games. They’ve argued that their nations’ athletes should not participate because of the actions of the Chinese government.
In their use of the games as a political tool, I hear disturbing echoes of a similar effort four decades ago. When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, Jimmy Carter as president threatened a US boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
I recall the moment vividly. I was among the 466 American athletes whose Olympic hopes hung in the balance. We had all shaped years of our lives around the competition. For me, that meant balancing my training as a rower with full-time work responsibilities. I’d wake up before dawn, practice and then go to my job as a lawyer. All the sacrifices were worth it for the opportunity to become an Olympic champion.
But in early 1980, global politics jeopardised that chance. I was shocked and confused. Shocked because I had never thought such a thing possible; confused because I wondered how my sitting out the games would make any difference to the Soviets’ decision to move an army into Afghanistan.
That confusion was well founded. The Soviets ignored Carter’s threat, the US pulled out of the Olympics along with many others and my fellow athletes and I missed the contest.
Having lived through that boycott, I hope no prospective Olympian faces another. History speaks for itself: the Soviet army stayed in Afghanistan for another decade and, in retaliation for the boycott, the Soviet Union and 13 other countries refused to attend the 1984 games in Los Angeles.
The world gained nothing from either boycott and we athletes lost what could never be restored. Evelyn Ashford, for instance, was among the fastest US track athletes ever and favourite to win potentially multiple gold medals in 1980. The boycott devastated her. “I guess the best way to describe it was I felt as if my soul was ripped out of me,” she said at the time.
There are countless such stories. To anyone pondering a boycott, remember this: because they occur only once every four years, the Olympics are unlike any other sporting event on earth. Athletes aren’t assured a second chance. Of the 466 Americans who had trained to compete in 1980, more than 200 didn’t make the cut for the next games.
When the US Olympic committee cast a vote affirming Carter’s call for a boycott, some athletes fought back, and I organised a lawsuit. I received death threats and hate mail, and was called unpatriotic. We lost our legal case, but our critics later changed their tune. Over the years, government officials confessed their regrets to me; several even apologised.
Last year, the committee expressed remorse. “It’s abundantly clear in hindsight that the decision to not send a team to Moscow had no impact on the global politics of the era and instead only harmed you,” wrote committee chief Sarah Hirshland. My fellow athletes and I would have preferred competition in 1980 over contrition in 2020. Still, those words are a recognition of what was taken from us — and a reminder of what is at risk now.
The pandemic has already delayed one Olympic Games in Tokyo and still hovers over Beijing. Athletes have had to reconfigure their lives and training, and that uncertainty comes at a real cost to the competitors, their coaches and their families. They should not, on top of all of that, be turned into political pawns. Those training for the 2022 Beijing games have earned the right to represent their countries. We must respect that right, and we must support them and the sacrifices they have made.
"do it" - Google News
April 18, 2021 at 06:41PM
https://ift.tt/3dq4TiW
A boycott hurt my Olympic dreams. Don’t do it again - Financial Times
"do it" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2zLpFrJ
https://ift.tt/3feNbO7
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "A boycott hurt my Olympic dreams. Don’t do it again - Financial Times"
Post a Comment