The political fraughtness of this year’s Olympic Games

The World

The history of the Olympics is undeniably political. Six Olympic games were officially boycotted since the 1950s; famously, the US and the USSR boycotted each other's games during the 1980s, during the height of the Cold War. This year, the US and 11 other countries are diplomatically boycotting the games — citing China’s mistreatment of Uyghur Muslims. The boycotts have left some sports watchers feeling ambivalent. The World's host Carol Hills speaks to Jules Boykoff about the subject. Boycoff has written five books on the Olympic games and teaches political science at Pacific University in Oregon.

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