Politics and protest are as much a part of the Olympics as muscle and sweat [AP]

It was one of the most electrifying moments in the history of the Olympic games - not a leap or a throw or a dive, but a pair of raised fists.
 
It was 1968, the most turbulent year in modern American history, and the scene was Mexico City.
 
American runners Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who had just one gold and bronze medals in the 200 meter dash, stood on the dais as the US national anthem was played. They raised gloved fists high in the Black Power salute, protesting racial injustice in the US. 

The protest salute got the pair suspended by the Olympic Committee but made them symbols of African-American pride and courage. 
 
What Smith and Carlos did was nothing new. Politics and protest are as much a part of the Olympics as muscle and sweat, and have been from the games' earliest days. Even as far back as the London games of 1908, Irish athletes refused to attend because of Britain's repressive rule over Ireland. 
 
For decades nations have tried to exploit the Olympics for propaganda or national self-glorification.
 
In the 1936 Berlin games Adolf Hitler sought to use sports to prove his racist claims of Aryan superiority. The games were the first to feature the relay of the Olympic torch from Olympia in Greece - reminiscent of the Nazi's massive torchlight parades and rallies.

Black power

Olympic medallist Joey Cheek, right, has been calling for protests over Darfur [GALLO/GETTY]

Hitler's sporting spectacle was made into a monumental propaganda film, Olympiad by Leni Riefenstahl.
 
But the Fuhrer and his Nazi minions got a rude shock when black American athlete Jesse Owens won four gold medals, leaving various Ubermensch eating his dust as Owens became the star of the games. 
 
In 1956, Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon boycotted the games held in Melbourne, Australia, in protest against Britain's attempt to seize the Suez Canal. That same year, several European countries stayed away in protest against the Soviet invasion of Hungary to crush an anti-communist uprising. 
 
In Munich in 1972 Palestinian gunmen took Israeli athletes hostage, hoping to force Israel to free Palestinian prisoners. The gunmen killed two hostages during the standoff, and later nine Israelis and three Palestinians were killed in a bungled rescue attempt.

Four years later most African countries refused to attend the 1976 Montreal Olympics in a protest related to South Africa's apartheid policies - although South Africa itself was banned from the games.
 
In 1980, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan led Jimmy Carter, the US president, to order an American boycott of the Moscow games. The Soviets and several other communist bloc countries took revenge four years later by shunning the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Positive results 

Politics and bloodshed come to the Olympics [AP]

Sometimes though, the intersection of the Olympics, a troubled country and the international spotlight can produce positive results. Many South Korean historians credit the scrutiny put on that country's political problems prior to its hosting of the 1988 games with forcing an end to the authoritarian dictatorship of Chun Doo-hwan and hastening the transition to democracy. 

The Beijing games will likely be rife with controversy. Already, pro-Tibetan protests have dogged the global leg of the torch relay, while on Wednesday, just two days ahead of the opening ceremony, a small group of activists unfurled banners in support of Tibetan independence in front of the Bird's Nest stadium.
 
No countries are boycotting the Beijing games, but human rights groups are encouraging athletes and politicians to speak out over China's harsh policies toward its own people.
 

Protests have dogged the global leg of the Beijing Olympic torch relay [EPA]

Nonetheless numerous groups, including some athletes, plan to speak out over China's repression in Tibet, its human rights record, or the genocide in Darfur.
 
"This is something that outrages our sensibilities - that these people are still suffering the way they are," says Joey Cheek, a gold medal winning speed skater in the 2006 Turin Olympics.

Cheek is a co-founder of Team Darfur, an international organisation of athletes seeking to raise awareness about the crisis in Darfur and the Chinese government's support for Sudan.
 
"What athletes can do more than anyone else is, they can mobilise people," Cheek says. "They can bring people together who might otherwise not say 'this is something that must stop.'" 
 
Cheek would not say what the 300-odd athletes who belong to Team Darfur would actually do to make their displeasure with China known.
 
The International Olympic Committee, eager to prevent any unpleasantness, has issued strict rules against athletes engaging in any political activities or displaying any protest symbols.
 
And in a sign of China's determination to stifle any protests associated with the games, Cheek's visa to enter the country was abruptly revoked this week just days before he was due to fly to Beijing.
 
Cheek says when he asked the Chinese embassy in Washington why, an official told him simply: "We don't give reasons."