Answers: How Olympics and Politics Intersect
Politics is never far away from the Olympics, from increasing concerns about the costs of hosting the mammoth event to sporting defections, the latest in Tokyo being Belarus’ Kristina Timanovskaya. China and Taiwan faced off in badminton at a time of heightened political tension, Hong Kong’s separate Olympic identity is in focus as Beijing chips away at the city’s freedoms and South Korea and Japan keep squabbling (more in the answers). And the uncertainties surrounding covid-19 continue, as Japan expands restrictions.
Answers
1) Which country was asked by the International Olympic Committee to remove banners referring to a 16th century war from their Olympic village accommodation balconies, just days before the Games began? (the message on the banners was inspired by the words of a 16th century naval admiral)
South Korea. The banners collectively spelled out the message “I still have the support of 50 million Korean people.” This was inspired by the 16th century Korean naval admiral Yi Sun-sin, who is believed to have told the King “I still have 12 battleships left” before defeating a larger Japanese fleet. More here and here. The 2014 film The Admiral: Roaring Currents on Yi Sun-sin and his victory over the Japanese naval fleet is the highest-grossing Korean film of all time.
Already fraught relations between South Korea and its former coloniser Japan have taken a turn for a worse in recent years, with survivors of forced labour and sexual slavery mounting compensation claims in Korean courts against the Japanese state and companies such as Mitsubishi. Japan says all claims have been settled by agreements in 1965 and 2015. There’s also the dispute over uninhabited islands. The addition of sexual innuendo to this volatile mix led to the cancellation of the South Korean President’s planned visit to Tokyo. More on the tangled ties in the video below:
2) This is the second time an Olympics has been held under the shadow of a pandemic. When was the first time?
Antwerp 1920, as the influenza epidemic was waning. The Olympics at the Belgian city also marked the first time countries were barred on political grounds. The losing countries in World War I - Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey - were kept out.
3) The most talked-about protest gesture at the Olympic medal ceremony podium is the ‘Black Power’ salute of 1968 when American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised a black-gloved fist during the playing of the U.S. national anthem to protest against racial injustice. But in the same Olympics, Vera Caslavska, the winner of seven gold and four silver medals (1960, 1964, 1968) staged a lesser-known podium protest by turning her head away and looking down when a country’s national anthem was played. She did that in two different ceremonies. Name her country, who was she protesting against and why?
Vera Caslavska was representing Czechoslovakia and she looked down when the Soviet Union’s anthem was played. She was protesting against the Soviet-led invasion that toppled a reformist government in Czechoslovakia less than two months before the Olympics began. More here and here. Video of the protest below:
4) While the 1936 Berlin Olympics is remembered for Jesse Owens and Adolf Hitler, it also saw a lesser-known gesture of protest at the podium which is now celebrated in one country. The men’s marathon gold and bronze medallists bowed their heads and stared at their feet during the ceremony. The gold medallist held an oak tree to his chest to cover up the flag of the coloniser he was forced to represent. Name the medallists’ country and the colonising power
Korea and Japan. The gold medallist was Sohn Kee-chung who was forced to compete under the Japanese flag with the Japanese transliteration of his name, Son Kitei. The bronze medallist was Nam Sung-yong, who had to use the name Nan Shoryu.
Sohn, born in what is now North Korea, was honoured at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul when he carried the torch into the stadium for the opening ceremony. More here, here here and here.
A prominent newspaper in Seoul, the Dong-A Ilbo defied colonial authorities by featuring a photo of Sohn with the Japanese flag on his jersey erased. It was shut down for months and some of its journalists arrested.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
5) Peter Norman, the silver medallist in the men’s 200m in 1968 (Tommie Smith won gold and John Carlos bronze) expressed solidarity with the two Black athletes by wearing a badge that read ‘Olympic Project for Human Rights’. This was an organisation set up to counter racism in sport. He never ran in the Olympics again and was ostracised in his country, which at the time had a racist immigration policy. Norman was hailed in the U.S. much earlier than his home country. Which country?
Australia. Peter Norman was ignored when Sydney hosted the Olympics in 2000. Australia’s Parliament issued an apology only in 2012, six years after Norman died. More here, here, here, here and here.
6) The first Black icon in football was Jose Leandro Andrade, the son of a former slave. He gained global attention for his Olympic exploits in the 1920s and was named ‘La Merveille Noire’ (The Black Marvel) by French media. Who did Andrade represent?
Uruguay, the Olympic champion in Paris 1924 and Amsterdam 1928. More on Andrade here and here. More on how Uruguay became the first team to prominently feature Black players here.
7) Which is the only country with more than 100 million people yet to win a single Olympic medal?
Bangladesh. More here and here. However, microcredit pioneer and Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus became the second recipient of the Olympic Laurel for what the IOC called his “extensive work in sport for development”.
In contrast, Tokyo saw San Marino becoming the smallest country to win an Olympic medal. The country of about 33,000 people has three medals now. More trivia by Suvam Pal and his YouTube channel Knowledge Nomads about the smallest and the largest countries searching for Olympic medals below:
8) This country was suspended by the IOC after refusing to allow Israel and Taiwan to take part in the Asian Games it hosted. Its sports minister denounced the Olympics as an “imperial tool”. The country, backed by Beijing, instituted the Games of the Newly Emerging Forces (GANEFO) as a counter to the Olympics. 42 countries took part in the first GANEFO in 1963 but the fear of being barred from the Olympics meant none sent an official team. This event was regarded as the biggest threat to the Olympics but collapsed after the country’s leadership changed and the new government fell out with China. Which country?
Indonesia. More here and here. India pushed back against Indonesia’s decision to block Israel and Taiwan from the Asian Games. In the subsequent backlash, India’s embassy was stormed by a mob. This backlash and the disastrous war with Communist China just over a month later in 1962 prompted India to play a crucial role in the IOC’s efforts to thwart GANEFO. Indonesia itself lost interest after the fall of Sukarno and his replacement by Suharto, who adopted a pro-Western, anti-Communist stance.
9) Women ran the marathon in the Olympics for the first time only in 1984. As many as 26 countries did not send a single woman to Atlanta in 1996. But in 2000 Afghanistan under the Taliban was banned for discriminating against women. In 2008 only three countries were left that had never sent women to the Olympics. Facing pressure from the IOC, all three sent women athletes to London in 2012. One was Saudi Arabia. Name the other two.
Qatar and Brunei. More here, here, here and here.
10) This island took part in the London Olympics in 1948 for the first time as a separate entity. It used a white flag with its coat of arms and the name in red. In 1952 it used two flags at the opening ceremony in Helsinki, the only such incident at an Olympics. It won its first Olympic gold medal in 2016 in tennis. Name the island.
Puerto Rico. The U.S. territory’s first gold medallist was Monica Puig in tennis in 2016. in Tokyo, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn won the 100m hurdles representing the island. More here, here and here. More on how Puerto Rico competes separately from the U.S. here, here, here.
More here on why tennis doubles all-time great Gigi Fernandez, winner of 17 Grand Slam titles and two Olympic gold medals, represented the United States at the Games, despite identifying herself as Puerto Rican.
11) The 1972 Munich Olympics was marred by the killing of Israeli athletes by the Palestinian group Black September. In the runup to the event the IOC averted a boycott threat from African nations led by Kenya and Ethiopia and Black American athletes by banning which contingent? (the stated reason was its athletes not proving they were British subjects in their passports)
Rhodesia under white minority rule. More here and here
12) More than 20 African countries pulled out of the 1976 Montreal Olympics in the first mass boycott. They opposed the participation of a country that sent a team to South Africa under apartheid. Which country?
New Zealand for allowing its All Blacks rugby team to tour apartheid South Africa. More here, here, here, here and here
13) Who was sent by the U.S. on a largely failed mission to whip up support in Africa for boycotting the Moscow Olympics? At the time he described himself as the “black Henry Kissinger’.
Muhammad Ali. More here, here and here
14) Which was the only Eastern European member of the Warsaw Pact to defy the Soviet-led boycott of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics? It finished second after the U.S. in the medals tally with 20 gold, the country’s best-ever Olympic performance. Its leader was awarded the Olympic Order in 1985. Name the country.
15) He was part of his country’s army when he won a gold medal in 1968 and bronze in 1972. He was jailed in the early 1990s after the government was overthrown and accused of shooting and killing a boy during what was known as the ‘Red Terror’. In 1995-96 Amnesty International and several athletes highlighted his long imprisonment without being charged. The IOC invited him to Atlanta and hired a lawyer to represent him but the prosecutor refused to free him. He was finally sentenced to six years in prison in 2002 but released for time already served. He died in a few months. Name the athlete and the country.
1968 marathon winner Mamo Wolde and Ethiopia. More here, here, here and here
16) Men’s basketball in 1992 was dominated by the U.S. ‘Dream Team’ but another team had a tenacious story. Its trip to Barcelona was partly funded by the band The Grateful Dead, which also provided the team tie-dyed shirts bearing the country’s national colours. The team was also allowed to sell special Grateful Dead shirts that became popular with fans. The country fought off its former occupier to take the bronze medal. Which country?
Lithuania. The Baltic state was the first Soviet republic to declare its independence in 1990. In the battle for bronze, it defeated the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) team made up of most of the former Soviet republics. More here, here, here and here.
17) How did a group of ten athletes from Syria, South Sudan, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo compete in the 2016 Olympics? (Tokyo has a contingent of 29 from 11 countries)
Refugee Olympic Team. Its best performer at Tokyo was Iranian refugee Kimia Alizadeh, who finished fourth in Taekwondo. In 2016 Alizadeh had become the first Iranian woman to secure an Olympic medal but subsequently defected. More on the ROT contingent here, here and here.
18) Following a peace deal in 1993, which entity took part in the Olympics for the first time in 1996?
Palestine. More here, here and here
If you have read this far (or otherwise) do subscribe to engage with upcoming quizzes and work out their answers.