Olympics

EDITORIAL | Paris Olympics a Mockery If War and Doping are Tolerated

There should be zero tolerance for athletes testing positive for drugs or from countries like Russia that repeatedly mock the Olympics by invading neighbors.

Published

2 days ago

July 1, 2024

Editorial Board, The Sankei Shimbun

Trocadero Gardens, the final stage of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony, was opened to the press on June 26 in Paris (©Kyodo)　

The Paris Olympics are due to open on July 26 with a grand ceremony on the River Seine.

However, if these Olympic Games truly are meant to be a celebration of peace and sports, then they must address a war of aggression and doping by athletes. These are major impediments seriously undermining the Games' value, fairness, and impartiality.

Less than one month remains before the start of the greatest event in the world of sports. Yet, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) remains indecisive on these critical issues.

Russia's Repeated Invasions

The IOC will not allow Russia to participate in the games as a team because of its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. However, on June 15 the IOC gave the go-ahead for 14 Russian athletes to participate in weightlifting, wrestling, and other events. They will participate as individuals on a neutral basis, without displaying the Russian flag or playing Russia’s national anthem.

*IOC President Thomas Bach (©Sankei by Hideyuki Matsui)*

This was only the first group of such exceptions. Moreover, the list of individual athletes who will be allowed to participate is expected to grow.

The IOC has established an eligibility committee to determine whether or not athletes from Russia will be able to participate. It has also stated that athletes who have actively supported the invasion of Ukraine or who have ties to the Russian military and security services will not be allowed to participate. Nevertheless, how they make that determination remains unclear.

Making a Mockery of the Olympic Charter

Russia was also barred from participating in the Tokyo Olympics just three years ago in 2021. That was for engaging in systematic doping of its athletes.

There, too, some of its athletes were allowed to participate on an individual basis. When they returned home they were feted at a welcoming ceremony, complete with fluttering Russian flags.

*Russian athletes participated in the Beijing Winter Olympics under the banner of the Russian Olympic Committee. (©Photo Sankei by Masamichi Kirihara)*

Similar scenes took place after the Beijing Winter Olympics two years ago in 2022. Immediately thereafter, President Vladimir Putin announced in a speech that he was sending Russian troops to Ukraine on a "special military operation."

Moreover, Russia, along with Syria, abstained during the vote on the Olympic truce resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in November 2023. If such nations cannot agree with what the Olympics stand for, they should take the next step — that is, to withdraw altogether from the Olympics.

On the same day that the opening ceremonies were being held for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, Russia invaded Georgia. Then, in 2014, immediately after the closing ceremonies for the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia attacked the Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine.

No other nation has so repeatedly made a mockery of the UN truce resolutions. It is fair to say that the weak-kneed stance of the IOC has contributed to Moscow’s willingness to do so.

Uniform Enforcement of Anti-Doping Rule

Then there is the revelation about 23 elite Chinese swimmers who had tested positive for a banned substance before the Tokyo Olympics. Inexplicably, they were still allowed to participate. The Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party of the US House of Representatives has called on American law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to investigate. It has furthermore asked the IOC to respond.

The banned drug detected in that case was trimetazidine, which is used for treating heart problems. It was the same drug that got Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva banned from competition for four years. Twenty-three is a large number of athletes on the same team to test positive. The IOC and the World Anti-Doping Agency clearly must justify their decisions to allow them to compete.

Those in charge must absolutely commit to rejecting war and drugs. Without that, a dark shadow will continue to hang over the otherwise anticipated joy of the Olympic Games.

(Read the editorial in Japanese.)

Author: Editorial Board, The Sankei Shimbun