The political component of the Olympic Games: history and modernity

The Olympic Charter, on which the IOC must rely in its activities, proclaims the absence of any form of discrimination, including national origin. De jure, the Olympic Charter establishes the principle of “sport outside of politics”. However, the current practice shows that politics and the sport of high achievements cannot be separated. Often, specific circumstances force the IOC to make decisions that are far from sports issues. Modern sports, especially the Olympic Games, have long been the arena of not only sports, but also political struggle. In different periods of history, this struggle took place in different ways. During the Cold War, it was about the confrontation of two systems - socialist and capitalist. Now they wage a hybrid war against Russia, one of the fronts of which is sports. The ideology of Olimpism [Olympic spirit], proclaimed at the end of the 19th century by Coubertin, has long given way to political propaganda and counter-propaganda, the promotion of Western values with their claims to universalism. The Olympic Games are also a tool for creating a positive image of the state, an element of "soft power". Olimpism, manifesting itself as a social institution, has fulfilled and continues to fulfill fundamentally different social class orders. The Olympic Games periodically face many difficulties, and they are far from always of a sporting nature. These include the problem of "judging" athletes from any country that is able to withstand civilizational challenges. Our value model with the priority of the spiritual principle is a real alternative to Western values. One of these values in our coordinate system is patriotism.