Olympic Torch

[Hickdive]

and why would they use politicians to great the torch off the plane ?

They get to carry a flaming torch on a plane? How come I get stopped with a yoghurt?

[Jay_Benson]

They get to carry a flaming torch on a plane? How come I get stopped with a yoghurt?

Its an American thing - they can understand heat but not culture.

[Jay_Benson]

The boycott of sport in South Africa really had a big effect on the local population and led to the abandonment of aparteid. True it would be better still if business was not conducted with China.

The comparison with greece and China is poor - String has already mentioned the stupidity of the plane spotters - as the greeks weren't about to execute them. China has the highest rate of execution in the world and is currently occupying Tibet because it has lots of minerals. The occupation takes the form, in part, of moving in ethnic chinese and displacing the local populace - this is a policy that has been going on for decades.

[String]

BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Paris protests mar Olympic relay

Seems the French beat the UK at the Olympics - they managed to extinguish the torch 3 times today.

They had to carry it on a bus. The French mayor also cancelled a parade.


BBC had an article on what China TV showed of the last 2 days. The UK had a few pictures of the torch and some athletes inside a stadium and comments that it was universally welcomed everywhere and going smoothly. Not a mention of the real situation at all. Sadly that highlights perfectly how Chinese people have to live their lives - fed propaganda and sheltered from the real world for their entire lives.

[Lazlo]

AFAIUI. it is traditional that the flame makes an appearance in all the olympic countries during the four years between games.

Not true. Hitler was the first to do this in 1936.

"The idea of carrying a lit torch from the Temple of Hera in Greece was invented by Hitler in 1936 to suggest a link between the German people and fellow Aryans in southern Europe. It was revived as a political act by Sydney in 2000 with a regional tour symbolising Australia’s links with the Pacific rim of Asia. Athens staged a world tour in 2004 in honour of the Games returning to their original home." Source

it isn't about politics, or human rights, but about harmony, sportsmanship and taking part.

Sadly, the first overtakes the second.

It is very much to do with politics. There is some sport, but that takes second place. The "Olympics" is a 4-year event for the host country (if not much longer), only the actual games part takes 2 weeks.

I quite liked that article quoted above. I am particularly fond of the expression describing the IOC as: "a self-perpetuating mafia"

The boycott of sport in South Africa really had a big effect on the local population and led to the abandonment of aparteid. True it would be better still if business was not conducted with China.

How long did that boycott take to work? I think we'll struggle to find any examples of truly effective boycotts.

Athletes do not get exemption from conscience or opinion because they are good at a sport. Look at Mohammed Ali or Jesse Owens. It's a shame more athletes can't show a fraction of the guts Ali showed.

We're told continually that they should be role models. I don't want my role models to keep their gobs shut because the people that hold the purse-strings tell them to. I was a kid when Ali was at his peak, the impression he left on me has been massive, one of the few people that I would hold in "hero" status. People like that are true greats, not the ones who go along with the whole dog and pony show with their heads in the sand.

Very, very good points.


EDIT: apologies to al kennedy who spotted the 1936 thing first.

[String]

On the role model thing i cant find an online link but BBC news interviewed steve redgrave who said amongst other things it was a fantastic advert for democracy and the right thing to do. So he's not sitting on the fence like so many others.

[The Penguin]

On the role model thing i cant find an online link but BBC news interviewed steve redgrave who said amongst other things it was a fantastic advert for democracy and the right thing to do. So he's not sitting on the fence like so many others.

Here. It's the sort of baloney that all supporters of the Olympic's have been peddling. That completely ignores the reality of the games - a politicised bun-fight. With China hosting the games i hardly think that is a fantastic advert for democracy.

[Lazlo]

Duncan Goodhew said that:

"It shows how extreme things can get in this country and it’s a great shame. It’s such a bad example for children."
Source via

Only trouble was he was talking about the protesters.

Role models eh?

[Tim Ingmire]

I find this quote from the BBC news piece on Paris very very ironic:

He criticised the attempts to disrupt the torch relay, saying violent protests, "for whatever reason," are "not compatible with the values of the torch relay or the Olympic Games".

to that say that sport and politics should not be mixed is a position that everybody can support but is, in reality, an unreachable utopia. The Olympics is all about politics - it has to be - the monies, cachet etc of hosting it is just something that cannot be ignored by Government and is exploited by the IOC - a group of people with extremely low regard amongst Olympic Athletes. Having been on a project with close involvement with the IOC you have wonder if they think that 2 week period just gets in the way.

Let's face it, the Olympics has long been berefit of any real ethical, moral standard and been used to further the political carriers of more than 1 unsavoury world leader. All the nonsense about furthering Democracy blah blah blah, higher ideals (bleurgh) is just patent BS.

Let's face it, the obnoxious toadying of so many many people on the Olypmics makes Comical Ali's statements on the downfall of Iraq look like.....wel you get my drift. In fact, where is Comical Ali? He'd be an excellent addition to the IOC media team.

[MarkP]

In fact, where is Comical Ali? He'd be an excellent addition to the IOC media team.

I'm sure he's there, beavering away behind the scenes...