Kevin B. Blackistone. “U.S. should boycott Beijing Olympics”. The Politico. Jun 18, 2007 – “Maybe there would have been a hue and cry six years ago against China’s Olympic candidacy had it then been linked to genocide. It did lose the bidding in 1993 for the 2000 Olympics in part because of the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident, which was yet another reminder of the entanglement of sports and politics, especially with the Olympics. Olympians have been the pawns since they first swaddled themselves in national colors.
The most recent games — not just 1972, 1968 and 1936, most famously — were colored by politics. The Bush reelection campaign was accused of hijacking the Athens Games in 2004 with an ad that claimed its war on terror was responsible for athletes from Iraq and Afghanistan being able to participate. Australia went on the apology at the 2000 games in Sydney as its star, sprinter Cathy Freeman, represented the Aboriginal natives historically discriminated against there. The 1996 Games in Atlanta saw the Palestinian Authority participate.”
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