As the 2022 Beijing Olympics approach, a diverse coalition of young international activists is leading calls to boycott the Games. Referring to Beijing 2022 as the “Genocide Games,” these activists point to China’s documented human rights abuses against the Uyghur population and ongoing repression in Tibet, Hong Kong, and Southern Mongolia as reasons why the International Olympic Committee (IOC) should not allow China to host the Olympics.
Throughout history, there have been numerous calls for boycotts of the Games, including of the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany and in response to apartheid South Africa’s planned participation in the 1968 Games. However, Olympic athletes and participating countries have rarely engaged in full boycotts of the Olympic Games — with some exceptions, such as the Cold War boycotts in 1980 and 1984. And the IOC has been unwilling to relocate the Games over calls for boycotts, deciding instead to occasionally ban individual countries.
The IOC doesn’t see its decision to host the 2022 Games in Beijing as political. “Given the diverse participation in the Olympic Games, the IOC must remain neutral on all global political issues,” the organization tells Teen Vogue in a statement. “Awarding the Olympic Games to a National Olympic Committee and a host does not mean that the IOC takes a position with regard to the political structure, social circumstances or human rights standards in its country.”
With news of the Biden administration’s diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics, and controversy erupting over the disappearance of Chinese Olympic tennis star Peng Shuai, the subject of boycotting the Olympics looms large.
What is the history of boycotts and the Olympic Games?
Throughout Olympic history, there have been extensive discussions about athlete participation and boycotts. At the 1936 Berlin Games, now widely referred to as the “Nazi Olympics,” spectators at the Games gave the Nazi salute as the swastika flag flew high. As German Olympian and sports studies scholar Arnd Krüger wrote in The Nazi Olympics, “The 1936 Olympics consolidated Hitler’s popularity at home and with German-speaking people abroad. The absence of any serious boycott and a virtually incident-free running of the Games led Germans to believe that their new regime was universally admired.”
Ahead of the Berlin Olympics, boycott discussions dominated in the U.S. press and athletic organizations, as is happening today. “With the Nazi Games, there was this very political — and public — conversation around it,” Amira Rose Davis, assistant professor of history and African American studies at Penn State University and cohost of the feminist sports podcast Burn It All Down, tells Teen Vogue. The question was: If athletes participated, would that validate the Nazi regime? “Some people [said] no, it's better to go and dominate than to not participate,” she explains, pointing to Jesse Owens, a Black American athlete, who won four gold medals in Berlin. Others, including Jewish athletes, chose to boycott.
The 1948 Games, known as the “Austerity Olympics” because they took place after the economic devastation of World War II, were held in London. Due to pressure from the British government, the IOC did not invite Germany or Japan, and did not allow Israel to participate. In 1948, Israeli athletes were set to compete for the first time since declaring independence a few months prior, but many Arab countries threatened to boycott, so the IOC denied Israel entry.
Twenty years later, ahead of the 1968 Games in Mexico City, the Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR), comprised of Black American athletes, advocated for a boycott unless South Africa’s apartheid team was again disinvited (they were banned in 1964), more Black coaches were hired, Muhammad Ali’s world heavyweight boxing title was restored, and various other conditions for racial justice were met.
The IOC did end up disinviting South Africa — another political decision made based on concern over a possible boycott — yet some Black athletes still refused to attend, including a young basketball star named Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who refused to try out for the U.S. Olympic basketball team. Other OPHR athletes, such as runners Tommie Smith and John Carlos, chose to attend. Smith and Carlos wore OPHR patches as they raised their hands in Black power salutes on the Olympic podium, a protest that would go down in history.
Perhaps the most famous boycott occurred in 1980, when 65 countries, led by the U.S., refused to compete in Moscow. U.S. president Jimmy Carter announced the boycott of the Games in response to the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. But the Olympic boycott failed to make much of an impact on the Soviet-Afghan War, and the Soviets dominated the Olympics that year, setting a new record for most medals won. Four years later, in 1984, the Soviet Union and 14 other nations boycotted the Games in Los Angeles to little fanfare.
All the U.S. athletes hated the 1980 boycott, according to historian Nicholas Evan Sarantakes, author of Dropping the Torch: Jimmy Carter, the Olympic Boycott, and the Cold War. “Olympic athletes are [competing] for the love of the sport. They want to represent their country,” Sarantakes tells Teen Vogue. “And here they're being told, after years of sacrifice, that they're being selfish and that they're not representing their country. So there was obviously some anger and resentment about that.”
What is the role of individual athletes in Olympic boycotts?
During the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (postponed and held in summer 2021), Burmese swimmer Win Htet Oo decided to boycott because the IOC would not let him compete under a neutral flag. In a letter posted to his Facebook that outlined his decision not to participate in the Games even though he qualified, Win Htet Oo wrote that to accept the Myanmar Olympic Committee “is to recognize the legitimacy of a murderous regime.”
But individual athlete boycotts like those of Abdul-Jabbar and Win Htet Oo are rare. Athletes are much more likely to participate in the Olympics if they can, and if they aim to make a statement, to use the Olympics platform to do so — which is also a challenging proposition.
“It's really hard to lay morality at the feet of athletes,” Davis says. Since Olympic athletes are operating on four-year cycles, by the time the Games approach, they are laser-focused on competition. Davis says she hopes we can “de-center the athletes — not to marginalize them, but rather to see what happens if we move them out of our viewpoint. Can we see the real mechanisms of power behind them to take aim at? If we can understand why people might be resistant to disrupting the Olympic system, we can figure out who's benefiting and how, and who's being told they're going to benefit, but are really being harmed. That's the way to actually push the conversation forward.”
What will happen at the Beijing Winter Olympics?
Lawmakers including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Mitt Romney had called for a “diplomatic” boycott of the Beijing Games. Under this arrangement, no U.S. government officials would attend the Games, but the athletes would still participate under the American flag. In early December, the Biden administration announced it will enact a diplomatic boycott of Beijing, which White House press secretary Jen Psaki attributed to the “genocide and crimes against humanity” in China. The United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and numerous other countries are also partaking in diplomatic boycotts of the Beijing Olympics.
For Beijing 2022, some athletes are choosing to use their platforms to bring light to the issues activists are calling attention to. Evan Bates, a U.S. figure skater, brought up the plight of Uyghur Muslims at a Beijing 2022 Team USA Media Summit. His teammate Nathan Chen added, “The fact that people are talking about this issue, and the Olympics are bringing it to light, is already a step in the right direction.”
Whether or not athletes will be able to bring up these issues at the actual Beijing Games is another question. Rule 50.2 of the Olympic character restricts the freedom of speech of Olympic athletes, stating, "No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.” Ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, the IOC “extend[ed] opportunities” for Olympians to express their views — but not on the field of play or podium, among other places.
“Any specific area the IOC provides for protest is never going to have the type of attention that one gets on the Olympic podium,” two-time U.S. Olympic skier Noah Hoffman tells Teen Vogue. “There’s a reason why the protests from Mexico City have been an all-time moment in Olympic history, and it's precisely because they took the moment that had the most spotlight.”
Hoffman, who cofounded Global Athlete, an independent organization to support athletes, says he’s worried about those who choose to protest at the upcoming Olympics. “All speech in Beijing is going to be more dangerous," he notes, "not just against the Chinese government.”
A crackdown is already underway. In early November, Peng Shuai, a Chinese tennis star and Olympic athlete, accused top Chinese official Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault. Soon after, she disappeared from public view, and the head of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) was unable to make direct contact with her. In response to the #WhereIsPengShuai campaign, state-controlled media released videos of her. Subsequently, the IOC announced its president, Thomas Bach, had spoken with Shuai in a video call, but refused to provide further details about her whereabouts.
An IOC spokesperson tells Teen Vogue that during the call, Shuai “was very clear in confirming that she is safe and well.” But the WTA said that the video call did not “alleviate” its concern, and many other activists and organizations have urged the IOC to do more to ensure Shuai’s safety.
Shuai has since resurfaced, saying she never made sexual assault allegations and that her social media posts were misunderstood; she called the events a “private matter.” Yet, in a statement to Reuters, the WTA said it still has “significant concerns about [Shuai’s] well-being and ability to communicate without censorship or coercion.” The group added, "We remain steadfast in our call for a full, fair, and transparent investigation, without censorship, into her allegation of sexual assault, which is the issue that gave rise to our initial concern."
Will a boycott happen in Beijing?
Momentum for diplomatic boycotts has accelerated since the Biden administration’s announcement, but it’s unlikely a full boycott will actually occur.
NBA star Enes Kanter, who became the first professional athlete to advocate for the boycott when he tweeted in support of #NoBeijing2022, wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, calling on the IOC to relocate the Olympics for Peng Shuai’s sake. “The IOC has ignored Beijing’s abuses for years," he wrote. "As athletes concerned about human rights and justice, we must pressure the IOC to move the Games.”
As of yet, no potential winter Olympians have spoken up about a boycott, but many athletes have spoken up about Shuai, turning a spotlight on China’s human rights abuses as the Olympics approach. “There is still time for the IOC, governments, and athletes to take a stance,” says Hong Kong activist Joey Siu. “I hope they make the right choice.”
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