Last week, the USA, Australia, Canada, and Great Britain announced that they would not be sending diplomatic representation to the Beijing Winter Olympics that start on 4 March, 2022.
The decision is meant to protest against China’s human rights record, particularly their treatment of the Uyghur Muslim minority people in the Xinjiang region of the country.
The respective governments believe that not having high-level diplomats to the Games is a tacit way of showing their disapproval of the behaviour of the Chinese government. However, some human rights activists believe this is not enough.
They believe that athletes themselves need to act, along with corporate sponsors and broadcasters, and have also called on protesting nations to prevent their sportsmen and women from competing in Beijing.
There is precedent for this. A number of nations from Africa and the Eastern bloc boycotted the 1976 Montreal Games because of the inclusion of New Zealand, who had breached anti-apartheid policies by hosting a South African rugby side.
Then, at the height of the Cold War, the USA boycotted the 1980 Games in Moscow. In a tit for tat, the Soviet Union and its Eastern European allies at the time, refused to attend the subsequent Games in Los Angeles.
There is little evidence that these boycotts made any difference to the political situation.
However, the athletes themselves did not suffer. A sport career can be very short and, in some disciplines, competing at the Olympics can be the pinnacle of years of effort and strife. That is especially true in some of the minority sports that do not get regular attention, where the Games is a rare opportunity to spear in the spotlight.
Even for the more glamorous sports, an appearance at the Games and perhaps winning a medal can be lucrative in terms of subsequent endorsements and sponsorship deals.
Whilst it will be naïve to claim that sports and politics do not mix, it should be noted that those calling for blanket bans on attending the Games do not come from the athletic community itself.
Protests themselves are fine and legitimate, but should be proportionate and the sacrifice should not be demanded of young athletes who may never get another chance in the limelight.