TOKYO – For all the International Olympic Committee talks of staying neutral, its games have long proven to be essentially and sometimes overtly political – for the Games overall, and often for the athletes who are intended to entertain the world in a two-week global show.
Associated Press: What happens when Olympics and politics collide?
Belarus athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya (L) walks through Terminal 1 before boarding her Vienna-bound flight at Narita International Airport in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, outside Tokyo on August 4, 2021, after travelling from the Polish embassy where she had spent the past two nights following claims her team tried to force her to return home after she criticised her coaches during the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
