The Olympics: Excellence or exploitation?
Who could not be impressed by the sight of the Jamaican Usain Bolt running faster than any human being in history? Or other awe-inspiring performances on the track, in the pool, in the veladrome or countless other venues? All that training, the coaching, the commitment, the dedication, the sacrifice, to go “citius altius fortius” — faster, higher, stronger.
The humanity of the Olympics, the taking part, pushing yourself to the limits, the striving — and above all the apparent equality of competition, has an undeniable appeal. The veneer of internationalism, the prominence of women and black people, of people from all round the planet, all give the event the tinge of progress and liberty.
But what about the politics of the Olympics?
The Olympics were revived at the end of the nineteenth century by imperial social Darwinists anxious to prepare their nations (and races) for war or at least for social peace. Baron de Coubertin founded the Olympics while searching for answers to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. These modern concerns fused rather well with the ancient Greek tradition, where the Olympics were part preparation for war, part worship of the gods.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has to rank as one of the most unrepresentative and reactionary organisations in history.
Avery Brundage, President of the IOC from 1952 until 1972 was an open supporter of the Nazi regime whose company got a contract in 1938 to build the German Embassy in the US. Brundage opposed the participation of women in the Olympics and was responsible for expulsion of US sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos from the 1968 Mexico Olympic after their iconic Black Power salute.
Juan Antonio Samaranch, was a prominent member of Franco’s fascist government in Spain of before he became IOC president (1980–2001). He was responsible for the sponsorship and broadcasting deals that have turned the games in an orgy of multinational capital, where McDonalds and Coca Cola associate themselves with health, while Nike and Adidas fumigate their sweated garments.
Apart from the suffocating nationalism, what spoils the Olympics is the big money — the involvement of capitalists and their lackeys in government. The 2012 London Olympics has a budget of around £10 billion, will be built by cheap, agency labour and transfer taxes and entrance fees into the pockets of the rich.
Despite efforts to present the Olympics as apolitical or non-political, the controversy has always been there. The Nazis used the 1936 Berlin Olympics to showcase their regime. The 1956 Melbourne Olympics were boycotted by some countries because of the Russian repression of Hungary and by others because of Suez. Both the Moscow (1980) and Los Angeles (1984) were boycotted by the other side because of the Cold War.
There have been more progressive interventions. The Black Power salute of was perhaps the most significant, but the Olympics were also affected by the anti-apartheid struggle.
The “Play Fair” campaign, in its own limited way, has exposed the exploitative labour conditions under which the merchandise is produced.
Should socialist favour the reform of the Olympics or its abolition? The Olympic brand is probably too far bound up with business profits, government corruption, geopolitical rivalry and nationalism to be salvageable. Any attempt to democratise the Olympics in the present world would have to take on powerful interests, and would have few powerful levers to change it.
For sure the IOC should be abolished and replaced with an association of sportspeople without national or corporate representation.
It is difficult to see how such a conglomeration of so many different sports at one event could survive the IOC’s break up. Perhaps better instead to have a series of competition of the best athletes, based on their performance at the start of the season, representing themselves with no national paraphernalia. Team events could involve random or equally weighted squads.
Of course inequalities would be hard to eradicate, given the financial and technological support provided in some countries. A system of transfers and subsidies to give opportunities to athletes from the poorest parts of the world would probably be necessary.
This is a long way from where we are today. But with the 2012 Olympics ahead, there is an opportunity for socialists to question the Olympics as currently constituted, while preserving the pursuit of sporting excellence. In terms of the construction work, the facilities, the costs of admission, and overall funding costs passed on to working class people, there will be opportunities to struggle in the years ahead.
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Olympics revived in the middle of the 19th Century
It's still a free country so I'd like to correct a historical error.
The International Olympic Committee would like us all to believe that the modern Olympic Games would not have happened if Baron Pierre de Coubertin had not founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894. During the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games the President of the International Olympic Committee proclaimed in his speech:
"Athletes, these Games were created for you by our founder, Pierre de Coubertin."
The word 'created' was not the best word to use. A dire effort to deify the founder of the International Olympic Committee. A papier-mache prop to hold up the weak historical foundations of the International Olympic Committee.
The elite of the 19th Century including the aforementioned Baron did what they could to stake their place in history. So do not be surprised to find that there were others who founded the modern Olympic Games before the Baron.
Baron Pierre de Coubertin travelled to Much Wenlock in Shropshire, before he even thought of founding the IOC, to meet Dr William Penny Brookes who founded a local 'Olympian Games' in the United Kingdom. The Wenlock Olympian Society was founded in 1860 (not 1850 as the Wenlock Olympian Society would have you believe). Dr Brookes organised a national Olympics in 1866 at Crystal Palace in London. W.G. Grace, the famous cricketer, competed in the hurdles event and came first. The Baron borrowed many of Dr Brookes ideas when he founded the IOC. The Baron was inspired by Dr Brookes.
But Dr Brookes also borrowed from others. Dr Brookes introduced, into the programme of the Olympian Games, events from the first modern international Olympic Games held in Athens in 1859. These Games were sponsored by the Greek philanthropist Evangelis Zappas. At the time Zappas was one of the wealthiest men in eastern Europe. He bought the ancient Greek Panathenian stadium in Athens, Greece, and had it refurbished for Olympic Games that were held there in 1870 and 1875. And he bought the lands surrounding it and built the first modern, purpose-built Olympic building named after him and called the Zappeion. The Panathenian stadium hosted the Athens 1896 Olympic Games which the IOC would have you believe was the first modern international Olympic Games. The same stadium was used for the Athens 1906 Olympic Games that is not recognised by the IOC. The Panathenian stadium was also used to host the archery events and the finish of the marathon at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. The Zappeion was used as the Media Centre during the Athens 2004 Olympics.
But why was Zappas swept under the carpet of history by the IOC? Is it because he had humble beginnings? Is it because he once worked as a mercenary soldier for the Ottoman Turks? Is it because he was a Greek soldier in the Greek War of Independence to liberate Greece from the Ottoman Empire in the early 19th Century? Is it because he was a farmer, merchant and buyer of land who worked hard and become something out of nothing?
Few people have heard the name of the man who provided the first athletics stadium in modern times (the 19th Century), or the Doctor who inspired the Baron, but everybody has heard the Baron's name who did not build a stadium. There was a stadium in Athens in 1896. There was no stadium at the Paris 1900 Olympic Games. Instead the Olympics was a side-show to Expositions, World Fairs, and Exhibitions between 1900 and 1908. A side-show like the African pygmies at the London 1908 Franco-British Exhibition. So the Baron who was telling everybody what to do but did very little is as famous as a famous brand name but the names of men who did the doing have never been mentioned in the Opening Ceremony of an Olympic Games.
By the way. The Baron was born on 1st January 1863. More than three years after the first modern international Olympic Games.
Yours faithfully,
Zappas.org