From Deseret News archives:

An Olympic boycott? Been there, done that

Published: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 12:40 a.m. MDT
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
Uh-oh, here we go again. Don't you hate when they start talking about boycotting the Olympics?

You know the drill: When the going gets tough, when nobody can figure out anything better to do, hold the Olympics hostage.

With the Beijing Olympics set for this summer, everyone with a cause is coming out of the woodwork to hold the Games as hostage — environmentalists, human rights activists, the Tibet crowd (what, no PETA?). The usual celebrity crowd — Richard Gere, Mia Farrow, the Dalai Lama, Steven Spielberg, George Clooney — is leading the charge against the war in Burma, genocide in Darfur, air pollution in China, and China's 57-year rule of Tibet.

Not that their causes aren't just and good — just misdirected.

Just a few questions: Isn't it a sign of diplomatic and political failure that these causes have nothing stronger to barter with than an athletic event?

Isn't this something the IOC should have considered before they ever made Beijing the host?

Then again, is there any place on Earth perfect enough to host an Olympics these days and thus able to avoid a boycott?

Here's one reason you do anything except boycott: Henry Marsh's flag ceremony.

Story continues below
In 1979, Marsh, a Utah resident and four-time Olympic distance runner, competed in a competition in Moscow called Spartikiade, which was a tune-up for the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. Marsh won the 3,000-meter steeplechase, but what happened afterward is what he remembers most. He stood atop the awards podium and listened to the U.S. national anthem play while the American flag was raised in Lenin Stadium at the height of the Cold War.

Where else could such a thing have occurred?

"It was one of the highlights of my career," says Marsh. "I had goose bumps. That symbolizes more than anything why we need to keep politics out of it."

A year later, the U.S. boycotted the Moscow Olympics and took some 60 nations with them to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. For Marsh, as well as thousands of other athletes, it was a lost opportunity. In 1980, he had the fastest time in the world in the steeplechase. He not only won the U.S. Olympic Trials but also produced an American record and was voted Outstanding Athlete of the competition.

But he never got to compete in the Olympics.

"It was stupid," says Marsh. "The only people hurt by the boycott were the athletes."

Recent comments

Set your clock back 160 years, Doug. If the media talking about an...

Michael | March 19, 2008 at 5:23 a.m.

A little perspective here. We're talking about a religious leader and...

Michael | March 19, 2008 at 5:06 a.m.

The LA Newspaper just had a headline saying that the US would not...

MY SLC | March 18, 2008 at 3:43 p.m.

previousnext

Latest comments

"...if Mormons make a mistake..." This guy did not make a "mistake". He...

With rumors of the UFL coming to Rio Tinto, this may be an opportunity to get...

Clinton to Dems: pass health bill

We really care what former President Bill Clinton says about health care. The...

Senators want food tax restored

For some people they take take take from the government and never pay...

In this case the person in question of the crime is a MAN. When the article...

5A football: Darts edge PG

A loser makes excuses. And actually your best player is Kruger not Lloyd....

Y. tight ends talented tandem

BYU will not beat Utah even though it's at their house. The Utes won't be...

It is unfortunate that BYU didn't face Utah last week. It would have been fun...

shes cute!

Flyers get QB back for semifinal tilt

If the kid should not have been ejected, it was the right decision. But...

Advertisements
Advertisement