A well-known journalist Mykola Neseniuk wrote on his Facebook page about some of the nuances of the history of the Olympics.
Mykola NeseniukFew people know that the Olympic Games in their current format were invented not by the Frenchman De Coubertin, but by the German Hitler. Until 1936, when the Winter Games were held in Garmisch-Paterkirchen and the Summer Games in Berlin, they were amateur competitions for eccentrics from all over the world. There was no opening and closing parade, no ceremonial lighting of the Olympic flame, and nothing else. All this was invented by the Nazis to show the world their greatness. And the world went along with it, already knowing about the cannibalistic methods of Nazi rule. The U.S. team did not even allow Jewish athletes to compete in the Olympics so as not to irritate the "Fuhrer." The Americans did not want to give up an interesting and comfortable trip overseas! By participating in the 1936 Games, the United States and other democratic countries effectively legitimized the Nazi dictatorship, which subsequently led to World War II.
The same thing happened in 1952, when the team of the Stalinist USSR was allowed to participate in the Olympic Games, which was not represented by amateur athletes, as required by the Olympic Charter at the time, but by professional athletes who were formally considered students, teachers, and military personnel... Everyone knew about these "tricks," but they allowed the Soviets to compete "for the sake of unity" and thus allowed communist propaganda to agitate for the "socialist way of life" through Olympic victories.
The 1956 Olympic Games coincided with the suppression of the Hungarian revolution by Soviet tanks, and the 1968 Games coincided with the execution of insurgents in Czechoslovakia by Soviet troops. No one in the International Olympic Committee condemned these actions of the USSR. On the contrary, the aggressor country was entrusted with the 1980 Games. The USSR responded to this trust by attacking Afghanistan. It was only then that the civilized world came to its senses: the 1980 Olympics were boycotted by 60 countries, including the United States. But athletes from Great Britain and Italy did go to Moscow, albeit "unofficially."
The story continues. In 2008, during the Beijing Olympics, Russia attacked Georgia, the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi launched Russia's attack on Ukraine, and another Beijing Games, this time in winter, "culminated" in a new, large-scale, as it is called, Russian aggression against Ukraine. Therefore, nothing good can be expected from the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. It's just the way those Olympians are!
Mykola Neseniuk
