Problems Faced By Olympic Games

The Olympics have seen both its good and bad days during its journey from early B.C. to this day. Some of the major issues, which caused problems, were political involvement, doping, boycotting and violence.

The most famous political involvement was by the German Nazis, in the 1936 Berlin's Summer Olympics. They used it as a platform to spread their ideas. Until the 1952 Helsinki's Summer Olympics, The Soviet Union didn't participate in the Olympics and had conducted international games event of their own named Spartakiads, since 1928. Many associations made by communists didn't participated in the Olympics and instead opted for the Spartakiads and some of the athletes belonging to these associations, who wished to participate were barred from the Olympics.

In the 1968 Summer Olympics, which was held in Mexico City, another political controversy took place involving two African Americans, John Carlos and Tommie Smith, winners of the two hundred track and field races. They performed the black power salute on the victory stand. This angered the IOC's autocratic president Avery Brundage and he ordered the USOC to either send the two athletes back home or to withdraw the whole team of track and field. And because of this the athletes were send back home. Iran had ordered their athletes not to participate in any Olympic heat, semi finals or finals, which had participants from Israel. An Iranian judo wrestler didn't participate in the Olympic hear because there was an Israeli wrestler participating in it, in the 2004 Olympics.

Performance enhancing drugs and doping are other major threats to the smooth running of the Olympic games. It was at the start of the twentieth century that the Olympics participants started using drugs to better their performance. The first recorded incident was that of Thomas J. Hicks who was given brandy and strychnine during the race, which helped him to get the winning position of the marathon, in the year 1904. When the drug abuse began to rise to a considerable level, a ban was levied in the mid 1960s. After that IOC, too, implemented the ban in 1967.

Drugs abuse by athletes took its own toll. Enemark Jensen was believed to have died of heavy doping, when he collapsed in a cycling race in Rome. Over a period of thirty-eight years, seventy-four athletes were tested positive to doping and they were deprived of their medals. The very first athlete to have tested positive for drugs was Hans Gunnar Liljenwall at the 1968 Summer Olympics, after which his bronze medal was taken away from him. In spite of the tests, many athletes have taken the risk of taking drugs and were not caught in the process. Some of the East German females participants were given anabolic steroids by their coaches, as part of a government policy.

The World Anti-doping Agency was formed in 1999 to fight doping. Many of the cross-county skiing and weight lifting medallists who were found guilty were stripped of their medals in the 2000 Summer Olympic games.

Switzerland, Spain, and Netherlands boycotted the 1956 Melbourne Olympics due to the restriction set by the Hungarian Uprising by the Soviet Union. Because of the Suez Crisis, Egypt, Lebanon, Cambodia and Iraq also boycotted the Olympics. The number of nations that participated in the 1980 Moscow Olympics was merely eighty, which is the lowest after the 1956 Olympics. This was because United States and sixty-four other nations rebelled against Soviet invasion on Afghanistan. As revenge, the Soviet Union and fourteen other nations didn't participate in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, giving the reason that they fear the safety of their athletes.

Violence was seen in the Olympics since its inception, although in ancient Greece, wars were brought to a halt during the games for the safety of the spectators and the athletes. The 1916 Olympics was cancelled due to the World War I and the 1940 Summer Olympics and the 1944 Winter Olympics were cancelled due to the World War II. A bombing at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta killed two and injured one hundred and eleven people.

The International Olympic Committee has been trying to make the Olympic events more friendly and peaceful. They to stop doping and to ensure a healthy competition also introduced Blood testing. The security has been tightened to combat any terrorist attacks. The efforts have been taken to retain the true sprit of the game.