There are times when a possible world event is ongoing but that sometimes doesn't stop from sports events from taking place. In most cases, it doesn't cross the minds of the organisers to postpone the event. In most cases, it's the Olympics that continues to run until it's conclusion. There are several examples of this occuring.
The 1904 Olympics, in St Louis, Missouri, took place as the Russo-Japanese War was being fought on the other side of the world. With the war intensifying global tensions at the time, many European athletes were unable to travel to a then-remote St. Louis. Less than 100 of the roughly 650 competitors were ultimately from outside the U.S. and about half that number were from nearby Canada.
The 1916 Berlin Olympics were cancelled due to World War I (WWI), the first time this had happened in the nascent history of the Games. They were next held in 1920, after the end of WWI but the defeated powers of Austria; Bulgaria; Germany; Hungary and the Ottoman Empire were not invited to participate. Following the devastation left by the war across Europe, the 1920 Antwerp Games marked the first time that the Olympic flag and oath were used.
The 1936 Berlin Olympics took place during Nazi rule in Germany and the Games were viewed by Hitler as an opportunity to promote Third Reich propaganda and ideals of Aryan racial supremacy and anti-semitism. Despite calls for a boycott of the Berlin Games, 49 teams from around the world competed, more than in any previous Olympics. Notably, the Nazis’ Aryan propaganda was undermined by the successes of Black track and field star, Jesse Owens of the United States. He won four gold medals and became the most successful athlete to compete in Berlin.
Just three years later, World War II (WWII) broke out.
The 1940 and 1944 Olympic Games were cancelled due to the outbreak of WWII. Even before their cancellation, the 1940 Games had become embroiled in geopolitical tensions when Japan’s government decided in 1938 not to host the Games in the wake of the Second Sino-Japanese War. The IOC chose Helsinki as the host city to replace Tokyo but staging the Olympics had become impossible by 1940.
The Olympic Games have not been cancelled again since 1940 and 1944, although the 2020 Games were postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The build-up to The 1948 London Summer Olympics Games was dominated by questions over whether to host them at a time when so many countries were recovering from WWII. Money was tight and so competitors had to bring their own towels, while host city London didn’t build any new venues for the Games.
A new road connecting Wembley Stadium to the nearest underground stadium was built by German prisoners of war. Germany and Japan were not invited to attend the Olympics while the Soviet Union first chose not to send any athletes but later was stopped in its attempts to send a weightlifting team.
The 1956 Melbourne Olympics witnessed countries boycotting the event for the first time, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. Earlier that year, the Hungarian Revolution had been suppressed by the Soviet Union, prompting the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland to boycott the Games in support of Hungary. Similarly, the Suez Canal crisis prompted Cambodia, Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon to withdraw their teams in protest while China also boycotted the event when the IOC included a team from Taiwan.
Despite other countries’ boycott against the Soviets, Hungary competed in the Olympics. A violent water polo match between the two teams left one Hungarian player (Ervin Zádor) bleeding from the head and led to Hungarian fans rushing towards the pool and threatening to riot. The resulting kerfuffle caused the match to be cancelled and Hungary, up 4-0 at the time, was named the winner and eventually won the gold medal. Although they lost the match, which eventually became known as, ‘Blood in the Water,’ the Soviets went on to finish first in the medal table.
Ten days before the 1968 Mexico Games, the Mexican government forces opened fire on crowds of unarmed student protestors in what then became known as the Tlatelolco Massacre. The exact death toll of this massacre is unknown and Mexican authorities have been unclear about the details.
The Games still went ahead, despite the violence.
The 1968 Games were also famous for being the Olympics at which Black American athletes, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, gave the Black Power salute on the medal stand as their national anthem, “The Star Spangled Banner,” played, in solidarity with the Black Freedom Movement in the United States. Smith and Carlos were expelled from the Games.
The 1972 Munich Games saw the hostage-taking and murder of 11 Israeli athletes by the Palestinian terror group known as, ‘Black September.’ This attack came amid tensions between Israel and the Palestinians and the Games still went on despite the deaths of all 11 athletes. This was followed by a botched rescue operation by the West German authorities.
The 1976 Montreal Games was a time when a large number of African countries threatened the IOC with a boycott, after New Zealand’s national rugby team went on a tour in Apartheid South Africa shortly before the 1976 Games. This prompted calls for New Zealand to be excluded. Those negotiations to ban New Zealand didn't go through, leading to 30 African countries, who were joined by Guyana and Iraq, withdrawing from the Montreal Games. This came after a few of their athletes had already competed.
The 1980 Moscow Games took place amid the backdrop of the Cold War. The United States and more than 60 other countries boycotted the Moscow Olympics because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979. A group of American athletes sued the U.S. Olympic Committee to participate but lost the case. This boycott reduced the number of nations participating to 80, the lowest number since 1956. Prominent nations such as Canada, Israel, Japan, China and West Germany boycotted the 1980 Summer Games. Afghan athletes, notably, competed in the Games. Despite the boycott and pressure on Moscow, the Soviet-Afghan war did not end until 1989.
The 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics were boycotted by the Soviet Union and most of the Eastern Bloc in retaliation for the 1980 boycott of the Moscow Games, which had been led by the U.S. With the Soviets out of the running, the U.S. won the medal count, with a record 83 gold medals. Some of the Eastern Bloc countries that boycotted and the Soviet Union staged their own alternate competition called the, "Friendship Games."
The 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics were the last Games of the Cold War era. The Berlin Wall was torn down a year later. The Games didn’t take place without controversy, as North Korea refused to attend after its bid to co-host the Games with its neighbour was essentially turned down by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Cuba joined its ally North Korea in boycotting the Seoul Games.
The 1992 Barcelona Summer Games were the first Summer Olympics to take place following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. However, due to the ongoing war, Yugoslav athletes were not allowed to compete in team sports and individual athletes competed without national identification.
The 2004 Athens Olympics were the first Games to take place after the US-led invasion of Iraq and saw Greek police using tear gas to disperse protesters who criticised then U.S. President, George W. Bush. Demonstrators marched through downtown Athens to protest the visit of then-U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, on the weekend of the Games’ Closing Ceremony.
The 2016 Rio Olympics witnessed the first appearance of the Refugee Olympic Team, providing a way for athletes, including those from war-torn countries, to compete at the Olympics. Ten athletes from Ethiopia, South Sudan, Syria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo competed under the Olympic flag in athletics, judo and swimming.
Now, the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris will be starting on Friday (26 July) and are unfolding against the backdrop of growing instability around the globe, as Russia pushes on with its year-long invasion of Ukraine and the war between Israel and Hamas rages on in Gaza.
While the international community has been rocked by these conflicts and others, the Olympics are supposed to be a symbol of peace and goodwill between nations.
I actually find what has been described above extremely unbelievable. The IOC should've taken a seat back and evaluate what's currently going on in the world. The cancellation of the Games due to the World Wars should be a benchmark. If there's a war that's ongoing, perhaps having the games isn't such a brilliant idea. Athletes and any spectators could collide and fights could break out.
I also find the expulsion of athletes for taking a stand ridiculous. Amid any possible struggles, athletes should be allowed to convey their opinions. It's not right to banish someone for simply establishing their alligance with a particular stand.