2008 Woodie Awards
Boycotting the Olympics? Why Olympic Games protesters should lay off the torch
Christina Kiser
Issue date: 4/15/08 Section: Opinion
This past week, I watched the news coverage of protests surrounding the Olympic torch with varying degrees of dismay. In Paris, one of more than 500 protesters tried to knock the torch out of a Paralympic athlete's hands. After that, organizers deemed it necessary to put the torch back inside the Olympic bus to avoid another confrontation. And in San Francisco last Wednesday, after three people shimmied up the cables of the Golden Gate Bridge to put up "Free Tibet" posters, organizers drastically rerouted the torch route, and police officers jogged on either side of the procession to protect it from protesters.
I think it's safe to say that the upcoming Summer Olympics in Beijing are causing a bit of controversy.
There are three main reasons why there's been such a brouhaha over the August 2008 Games: The first is China's dubious human rights record. Second is China's iron-fisted control of Tibet. And finally, China's open relationship with Sudan is also to blame - it's a turnoff for most of the Western world.
I will be honest, when I heard that the next Olympic Games would be in China, I thought, "Wait, China? Why China?" I knew that the air pollution in its major cities - like Beijing - is quite bad, which can't be great for athletes. And it just seemed so far away, in a part of the world that I knew little about.
Even if the Games were going to be in a distant land with a very different culture than ours, I was - and still am - excited.
I love the Olympics. That majestic theme music (you know the one I'm talking about) gives me goose bumps every time I hear it. I love hearing the athletes' stories; stories about how they began taking gymnastics at the age of three, or at 5 years old started playing tennis and kept at it and somehow ended up here. I love cheering on the American team; I'll be watching for Michael Phelps, remembering his name up on the records board at the FAC (and remembering that he almost went here…but that's another story).
I think it's safe to say that the upcoming Summer Olympics in Beijing are causing a bit of controversy.
There are three main reasons why there's been such a brouhaha over the August 2008 Games: The first is China's dubious human rights record. Second is China's iron-fisted control of Tibet. And finally, China's open relationship with Sudan is also to blame - it's a turnoff for most of the Western world.
I will be honest, when I heard that the next Olympic Games would be in China, I thought, "Wait, China? Why China?" I knew that the air pollution in its major cities - like Beijing - is quite bad, which can't be great for athletes. And it just seemed so far away, in a part of the world that I knew little about.
Even if the Games were going to be in a distant land with a very different culture than ours, I was - and still am - excited.
I love the Olympics. That majestic theme music (you know the one I'm talking about) gives me goose bumps every time I hear it. I love hearing the athletes' stories; stories about how they began taking gymnastics at the age of three, or at 5 years old started playing tennis and kept at it and somehow ended up here. I love cheering on the American team; I'll be watching for Michael Phelps, remembering his name up on the records board at the FAC (and remembering that he almost went here…but that's another story).
Be the first to comment on this story