Nationalism, Boycotts and the Olympic Industry

Abstract

Winning or losing on the world sport stage has been a symbol of a country’s international standing since the early years of the Olympics, and the exploitation of sporting victories for nationalist purposes has been well documented. Proposals to boycott the Sochi Olympics met with almost universal opposition, with sport leaders, politicians and athletes relying on the popular arguments that a boycott would be ineffective and would hurt the athletes. There was considerable support for a boycott of Olympic sponsors and for other forms of protest. Critics who compared Putin’s Russia to Nazi Germany and pointed to the missed opportunity to boycott the 1936 Berlin Olympics were generally dismissed. An analysis of rationales used to support the anti-boycott position demonstrates the Olympic industry’s continued success in perpetuating the ‘sport-as-special’ myth: magical thinking that sport transcends politics.