Rigged Olympics: How US Hegemony Killed an Ancient Sports Icon
Posted on June 22nd, 2016
Dilrook Kannangara
After proof of athletes taking banned performance enhancing substances and allegations of state support for it, Russia has been banned from contesting in the Olympics. This is an absurd decision. Just because a few athletes used banned performance enhancing substances with possible state support, it shouldn’t result in disqualification of the entire team. That is against what Olympics stands for. This is yet another US hegemonic ploy to isolate Russia.
By removing Russia from Olympics, USA achieves many objectives. It complements economic and political isolation of Russia. This was done by the EU, Canada and Japan at the behest of USA. Now this ugly tactic has spread to sports as well. This is not the first time US hegemon fell on Olympics. In 1980, USA and its allies boycotted Moscow Olympics over naïve allegations. That places USA in a worse position than Hitler who despite his furious intolerance of certain people, allowed the event to proceed without boycotts in 1936. Soviet Union retaliated by boycotting the 1984 Games held in USA.
The second objective is to ensure USA wins most gold medals and come on top. Olympics gold medal tally is a symbol of global power since the Cold War. After topping the tables in 2008, China is set to repeat a strong performance and USA will likely fall behind. By removing Russia, USA has ensured it will grab most gold medals that would otherwise go to Russia. This way USA will overtake China.
Further, the ridiculous decision to ban Russia still allows Russian athletes to compete under different banners! As many Jamaican, Eastern European and even Asian athletes are poached by USA over the years, it will get Russian athletes to contest for US and EU countries. It will only expand their tally of gold medals.
These low-grade tactics indicate the desperation USA is in when the world swiftly goes past it. Today USA is a waning power. It tries every trick in the book to remain relevant. It is determined to drag its allies down with it. Germany and France have boldly rejected to be parts of the US hegemon in confronting Russia. EU is already suffering loss due to economic sanctions on Russia and Russian sanctions on them. US allies pay a very heavy price for doing its bidding. US hegemon is seen in the Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Artic Ocean, East China Sea and South China Sea. These moves are aimed at provoking Russia and China for war. However, if such a war ensues, USA and allies will be the losers. All empires fall and USA is no exception. The question is when. The conduct of USA today very closely resembles the conduct of Germany in early 1940s.
June 22nd, 2016 at 5:24 pm
The downfall of the U.S.A. will be nothing but owing to its own KARMA.
June 23rd, 2016 at 8:12 am
It seems the USA is trying to blame Russia for anything and everything in order to isolate Russia and destroy their reputation and influence they have in world affairs. This is what they did to small powerless countries like Sri Lanka, till they achieved their goal of regime change. But for Russia, they are fortunate, to be militarily powerful with highly advanced space technology giving them manoeuvrability even from outer space in addition to the fact that Russia is a large economy that could withstand US led sanctions, with powerful allies like China remaining as trading partners, outside the US sphere of influence. This could be why China is also being harassed by the same parties.
Anyway, the blanket ban imposed on Russian athletes by the IOC, may have to be withdrawn, as some athletes who have not violated IOC regulations and requirements have threatened to take legal action against the IOC for depriving them of their livelihood.