China should never have been allowed to hold these Olympics

BEIJING – Sports fans have been forced to gaze toward China this month as it held a Winter Olympics it should have never been allowed to hold.

China's authoritarian government, its human rights violations, its suppression of cultures, its denial of free speech, and its oppression directed toward the Uyghurs, a Chinese Muslim ethnic group, is enough evidence. The Games should have been played elsewhere.

Which country? Any, as long as they treat human beings like humans.

Instead, the Games were given to China, a country that has been accused of everything from forced labor to sterilization to genocide.

For this, we can thank the International Olympic Committee for failing to take a stand, holding its hands out and accepting billions from this ruthless country. China was allowed to practice "sportswashing" — scrubbing away at its dirty reputation through athletics — for a second time.

Beijing played host to the Summer Games in 2008 and put on one heck of a show. Yet its stance on human rights has not changed one bit since then.

Now, Beijing has become the first city to host a Summer and Winter Olympics — and you can thank the IOC's greed and lust for opulence for that distinction.

Several countries and cities dropped out of the running for the 2022 Olympics as the bidding process went along. You see, the IOC likes to be pampered at the Games. Oslo, Norway, would have been a fine choice for a host city. But details of the IOC's wish list were made public.

The demands, according to reports, included an exclusive lounge for IOC members; a private meeting with King Harald V; doves to be released following the parade of athletes; no street vendors beginning two weeks before the Games; all meeting rooms kept at 68 degrees; separate lanes on roads solely for IOC members.

That was enough for Oslo to drop out, leaving China and Kazakhstan as the remaining bidders.

Most democratically run countries will be hard-pressed to sell voters on the Olympics just from the infrastructure costs alone. Adding these "sweeteners" makes that sell-job impossible. The IOC needs authoritarian-run nations such as China and Russia in the bidding, for their politicians can't be voted out of office and can approve what they want. And that is troubling.

The IOC claims it will change how it evaluates potential host cities. But we need to see deeds, not words.

Thomas Bach, the German fencer-turned-IOC president, has stated many times that he wants the Olympics to be politically neutral. That, in of itself, is a stance. It allows the IOC to fatten its accounts no matter how diabolical the country writing checks.

Bach's position puts athletes, who have invested time and money into training and proving themselves across the globe for a chance to compete for Olympic glory, in an unenviable spot. Human rights groups begged them to speak out during the Olympics about China's record and demand change. Their silence, these groups have said, emboldens the oppressors.

Few athletes have been critical of China while in China. That's not a surprise. Some athletes might not have the life experience or confidence to speak up. Most want to protect their careers. And there were warnings that speaking out against China while in the country would come with risks.

The IOC's cowardice affected competition here, too. The best example is the treatment of 15-year-old Russian figure skater Kamila Vaileva, who failed a drug test but was allowed to compete because she's under 16 and might have been forced into cheating. Then she was publicly criticized by her coach after a poor performance. Russia — referred to as the Russian Olympic Committee for its past doping transgressions — should have been banned from these Games because of its past.

There are consequences when the IOC is unwilling to make a stand:

• While the cheating cheaters participate.
• While Russian President Vladimir Putin — his military ringing Ukraine — appears at the Opening Ceremony to visit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
• While I sit in a hotel room watching CNN and wonder why I'm suddenly looking at color bars on the screen for five minutes just as a story about Chinese tennis pro Peng Shuai's mysterious situation begins to air.

All while the IOC gets richer.

The IOC needs to stand up to bullies. It should have said no to China.

We were treated to compelling moments at the Beijing Games, and the world's greatest athletes didn't disappoint. Yes, there were daily COVID-19 tests and workers everywhere in hazmat outfits, but the Chinese people were wonderful, helpful and funny hosts.

Beijing put on a good show. Now, China should never be allowed to host the Games again.