Last Sunday saw the official end of the Olympic
Games held in Sochi. Considering the controversy they caused before they
started, I wanted to ask what did it all mean?
Oliver Rawlings readers you must remember all
the debate and discussion that took place before the Winter Olympics this year.
People were furious that they games were taking place in Russia.
Russia is a country that under the leadership
of Vladimir Putin has become notorious for its anti-gay laws and for the
imprisonment of political prisoners. Human rights campaigners were incensed
that the IOC could even think of holding the Winter Olympics in such a place.
However despite the protests the Winter
Olympics did indeed take place in Sochi. Now that they’re over we have to
consider how it all went and was it really as bad as people thought it would
be?
The games largely went off without a hitch.
With the exception of an Olympic ring not lighting up in the opening ceremony,
there were no terrorism threats, no major international incidents etc. The
sports gripped the people of the world, as always and it took place as any
other winter Olympics would.
However it didn’t take place without incident.
Human rights campaigners including punk band pussy riot were arrested and
allegedly beaten for protesting at Sochi. There is evidence to suggest that
when confronted with the internationally recognised right to protest, Putin was
ready and able to crush opposition.
However despite the fact that these incidents
gained some media coverage, they didn’t gain anywhere near as much as they
would have done before the games. These arrests gained some coverage but often
the events themselves grabbed the bolder font in the national papers.
This seems like an anomaly to me. Don’t get me
wrong, I know the Olympic Games are important. They promote honest values
through friendly competition and foster international relations. However to me
it seems a little irresponsible to be emphasising curling and hockey matches
over human rights issues.
So what was Sochi really all about Oliver
Rawlings readers? Some would suggest that despite everything it was still the
Winter Olympics and as such the focus should be on sport. However I would
suggest that this neglects the underlying concept of the games; to promote
international relations.
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