As the WinterOlympics begin in Beijing, many officials from elsewhere are choosing not to attend. This is a mistake, argues Sebastian Coe, president of World Athletics
and fireworks, the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games will begin on February 4th. But many officials will be missing from the opening ceremony. Countries including Britain, America and Australia are instigating a diplomatic boycott of the Games. They are wasting an opportunity to engage with their Chinese counterparts on the issues that matter to them.
The world of sport should never be coy or naive about moral and ethical issues. The Winter Olympic Games attract some 3,000 athletes from 91 countries and provide ample opportunity for diplomacy. I helped to organise the Olympics in London almost a decade ago. I know full well that many countries that competed did so while holding their noses over British foreign policy at the time. Yet there was no talk of a boycott—athletic or diplomatic.
I have my own experience, too. I didn’t just live through the boycott of Moscow’s Olympic Games in 1980—which involved dozens of countries and was organised by America. I was at the centre of it. My father, who was my coach, was called in for a chat by a young minister in the Foreign Office, Douglas Hurd . He wanted my father to encourage me to be less vocal about my opposition to a proposed British boycott of the games.
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