The Political Olympics by: Adham Elsherbini
The Olympics serve as one of the closest events to global unification, and yet despite this and the approaching 100th anniversary of the Winter Olympics, the Beijing 2022 Olympics are expecting a downfall in viewership. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) holds a majority rule election with its members to decide upon a host country for each Olympic games. The purpose of hosting the Olympics is typically to depict the amelioration of the country. However, in the Beijing 2022 Olympics, no amount of artificial snow or stadiums can shadow the political tension that persists. The Olympics have historically found trouble in the erroneous perspectives that host countries portray to the tourists. In the case of Rio 2016 Summer Olympics, walls were built, civilians were evicted, and the economy experienced losses in the THE OBSERVER
attempt to hide the harsh realities of mass inequality in the city. Also, nearly a decade after former president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, justified his spending as better infrastructure, billions of dollars have gone to waste. Similarly, China has spent over 10 billion dollars in an attempt to cover its disheartening truth. In the north-west of Xinjiang, China’s largest provincial division, over 1 million Ughyurans have been forcefully placed in camps with plausible human right abuses. This genocide has captivated the eyes of world leaders and initiated a diplomatic boycott for the Olympics, including but not limited to the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. To add, the politicization of the Olympics deepened when the Beijing Organizing Committee Spokeswoman was offended by a question regarding Taiwan's appearance in the ceremonies. To put matters worse, the Olympics have faced criticism over the COVID-19 outbreak in Hong Kong XVIII.3
22.
