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IOC President Thomas Bach found an “unprecedented Olympic spirit” in Beijing
Photo: Peter Kneffel / dpa
It is one of Thomas Bach's rituals to sing hymns to the host at the end of the Olympic Games.
More often than not, the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) then says that these are the best Games he has ever seen.
This time he bit back his praise, instead he said: Beijing was one of the "safest places on this planet" during the games, and this poisoned compliment says a lot about the Winter Games, which are coming to an end this Sunday.
The safe place Beijing: Surveillance, the total bubble in the pandemic, the lack of exchange with the population, the non-existent audience from abroad, the complete isolation of the Olympic Games.
Maybe that's not what Bach meant when he talked about the safe place, but that's exactly what these Winter Games were.
It was a major technocratic event, perfectly organized, but one without atmosphere.
This is not primarily the responsibility of the Chinese, games in pandemic times would probably have been like this all over the world, with strict rules.
But it could only be fine with the regime.
It was in control.
Once the reputation is ruined
At first glance, everything went well for the IOC: China is now sufficiently busy with the 2008 Summer Games and the 2022 Winter Games, the sponsors from the Far East are satisfied, the money has been pocketed, the TV broadcasts have brought good ratings.
And if you want atmosphere, you will get it in the future with Paris 2024 and Milan/Cortina 2026. Then there will be nice colorful pictures again.
Bach and the IOC sell these games as successful, which is consistent with their self-image.
However, if you deviate from their logic, then it remains the same: awarding the Winter Olympics to Beijing was a serious, a bad mistake.
A mistake that falls back on the IOC.
Holding the Olympic Games in Beijing damages the values that IOC boss Bach carries before him like a monstrance: fairness, cosmopolitanism, human rights, peace and friendship.
An Olympic host China reveals all this as sheer hypocrisy.
The image of the IOC was already ruined before Beijing.
But now it's finally true: Bach no longer has to come to the world with credibility.
There is nothing more.
Surrounded by the incense of the true, the beautiful, the good
Chinese representatives of the organizing committee can simply deny human rights violations at an official IOC press conference without the committee vehemently intervening.
Bach strikes up eulogies for the ruler Xi Jinping.
Statements about the threat of Russia invading Ukraine become rhetorical ballyhoo.
These games have experienced all of that – they are proof of what many have accused the IOC of being for years: A soulless and empathetic profit machine that has long since peddled what the Olympic Games might have meant.
Bach waves the censer, which is supposed to give the IOC a touch of truth, beauty and goodness.
It's all the missteps that the IOC has taken since Juan Antonio Samaranch presidency.
On Saturday, the IOC elected his son, Juan Antonio Samaranch junior, as its vice president.
That's telling.
Samaranch is considered the first contender to succeed Bach.
So everything will go on like this.
The fact that the incumbent IOC President denounced the environment of figure skating teenager Kamila Valiyeva in his Olympic conclusion, and was shocked by the emotional coldness of the trainer, can be seen as crocodile tears.
His careful handling of Russia despite its widespread doping contributes to the fact that doping by a Russian athlete is now being discussed again at all.
"Unprecedented Olympic Spirit"
Everything that was previously listed as points of criticism, the human rights problem, the gigantism, remains in place at the end of the games.
Nothing got better from these games.
In his conclusion, however, Bach spoke of an “unprecedented Olympic spirit”.
A ghost that is actually a non-spirit.
The caravan moves on, there are now a few more expensive ski resorts on this planet than before.
The extent to which they will be utilized in the future remains to be seen.
The prominent doping case Valiyeva will be remembered from these games.
That was Beijing 2022. Games to forget.
The IOC got exactly the games it deserved.