Page 18 - THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE’S ACCOUNTABILITY FOR HARMFUL CONSEQUENCES OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES- A MULTI-METHOD INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ANALYSIS Ryan Gautier

Chapter One – Introduction
2.3. The Worst Outcomes of the Olympic Games—A Story as Old as Olympus
The Olympic Games are a multi-year event that encompasses a broad range of activities. As such, when examining the Games, the particular aspect under consideration should be made clear. If this is not done, critiques of the Games, particularly in regards to broad issues such as human rights, run the risk of being over-generalized and conflated. As such, when I speak of human rights problems associated with the Games, I am dividing the problems into three categories: (1) those that occur around the Olympic Games, (2) those that are associated with sport, and (3) those that are caused by hosting the Olympic Games. While I will outline all three here, this research is concerned with the problems that arise in category number three.
A first category of human rights issues are those that occur around the Games. These are issues that exist in the host country, but are not connected to the Games themselves. For instance, a government may generally violate human rights. This was the case with the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics, conducted under the auspices of the Nazi regime.36 Post-War Olympic Games were held in countries engaged in a variety of practices that negatively impacted upon human rights. The 1968 Mexico City Summer Olympics witnessed the Tlateloco Massacre.37 Afghanistan was invaded by the U.S.S.R. prior to the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics, sparking a boycott by many Western states.38 Afghanistan was invaded by the U.S. on the eve of the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, marking the second time it was invaded by the host of an upcoming Games, although this invasion did not spark a boycott. The 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics were awarded to a
36 However, it must be noted that the Games were awarded to Germany in 1932 during the days of the Weimar Republic. The only other city in contention to host the Games was Barcelona. If the Games had been awarded to Barcelona, they would have been held at the onset of the Spanish Civil War. Certainly, the IOC could not have been expected to anticipate either the Nazi rise to power or the Spanish Civil War. Of the expectations this thesis has of the IOC, omniscience is not one of them.
37 See David R. Black and Shona Bezanson, ‘The Olympic Games, Human Rights and Democratisation: Lesson from Seoul and Implications for Beijing’ (2004) 25 Third World Quarterly 1245, 1246.
38 Scott Rosner and Deborah Low, ‘The Efficacy of Olympic Bans and Boycotts on Effectuating International Political and Economic Change’ (2009) 11 Texas Review of Entertainment and Sports Law 27, 46–50.
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