How Political Were the 2010 Olympics?

“Of course we expected more from our team, but this is still no reason to lose heart, wear sackcloth and ashes and self-flagellate,” Vladimir Putin said of the final medal-count for the Russian Olympic team.

Our next Olympic Winter Games will travel to Russia. This will no doubt trigger a whole raft of faux documentaries featuring menacing nesting dolls, and the sudden and more strange return of Yevgeny Plushenko. We have not seen the end of him, I fear.

Putin has encouraged athletes to step it up for 2014, but how political do we want these games to be? Controversy follows the Olympic torch no matter where it lands next. Canada was a mellow round of games; the home turf is a mellow place. But when the games have traveled to China, or Korea, the games are surrounded by street violence, political involvement, and the overall tone is not one of fairness and sportsmanship. When political leaders weigh in on the games, does this mean that the games themselves are a serious political matter? Are international relations and cultural clashes coming to a head around an athletic competition?