Filzmaier analyzes

The Olympic Games and politics

Peter Filzmaier is Professor of Political Science at the University of Continuing Education Krems and the Karl-Franzens-University Graz.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Imago/Sammy Minkoff)

The Olympic Games are political. Because the IOC has set the goals of peace and international understanding. Only the implementation has always been a problem. From Hitler's propaganda games in 1936 to the terror in Munich in 1972 and the East-West conflict of the 1980s. 

1 ) Before the 2024 Paris Games, the focus is on ensuring that only neutral individual athletes from Russia are allowed to take part. That sounds good, but it is a lazy compromise. If your own country wages a war of aggression, everyone has their own opinion and is not "neutral". Russian border authorities are certainly not neutral, as they only allow supporters of the war to travel to and from Paris.