Clash of the Titans: The Sino-American Geopolitical Rivalry at the 2022 and 2024 Olympics in Beijing and Paris

This paper concerns the demonstration of the diplomatic rivalry between the United States and the People’s Republic of China at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing and the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Two incidents at these sport mega-events reflect increasing geopolitical tensions between the established and emerging superpowers. These include the diplomatic boycott of the opening and closing ceremonies at Beijing 2022 and the doping allegations against several Chinese swimmers at Paris 2024. This research examines how American and Chinese media— The New York Times and The Global Times —relay the interstate conflicts at the two Olympics to each other and the international community. With reference to the debate on the decline of liberal internationalism as a theoretical backdrop, this work discusses the causes of the United States–China altercations at the two Olympics. With the rise of China, American hegemony in the liberal international order is being challenged. At the historical juncture when the American unipolarity starts to crumble slowly and a multipolar structure gradually begins to form, the two major sporting events in question duly reflect the divisive world politics. In this circumstance, unfortunately, Olympic journalism in the two rival nations further deepens this fissure.