The Olympic games were a clear triumph for authoritarianism and a crushing defeat for human rights.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Olympic games but I think I ended up with more disdain for the Olympics and China. The ideal of the Olympics was pretty thoroughly crushed by China’s disdain for its promises and the Russia-Georgia War.
Sally Jenkins of the Post is just brilliant in skewering the Olympics.
"I am Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, and ordinarily I am a man of perfect repose. My eyeglasses are without a smudge; my hair is impervious. As the American author Mark Twain once wrote, “The weakest of all weak things is a virtue which has not been tested in the fire.” I am supremely confident of my virtue. It has been tested in many regattas.
For years now I have worked tirelessly to fashion the Olympics into an event in which it’s possible to completely avoid ethical responsibility. I’ve used my skills as a yachtsman, member of the Belgian knighthood, and an impeccable wearer of blazers and boat shoes, to avoid a principled stand on any subject. It therefore grieves me to say that 10 days into the Beijing Games, I have met with a matter of the utmost seriousness: the unfortunate expressions of joy by Jamaican runner Usain Bolt, after winning the 100- and 200-meter dashes. This is truly an Olympic crisis.
It’s one thing for the Chinese government to jail dissidents, to forge the passports of underage gymnasts, and to set up official protest zones and then arrest anyone who applied to use them. These are matters that I met with disciplined silence, or as I so adroitly put it, with “quiet diplomacy.” But I cannot ignore Bolt’s disturbing spontaneity. Him, I feel compelled to rebuke. "
I’ve praised the Chinese organizers at every opportunity, remarking on the “excellent preparation of the Games” by their bulldozers and cleansings. I proudly cooperated in censorship, from the obfuscation of their air quality problems, to the gagging of athletes on the subjects of politics and religion. In July, I announced that, “for the first time, foreign media will be able to report freely and publish their work freely in China.” Meanwhile, my people were arriving at a secret deal with officials to allow Internet censorship, without the knowledge of the media or the rest of the IOC.