Contesting the international order through the Olympics: from Sochi 2014 to Paris 2024

Abstract. This chapter investigates the evolving nexus between Olym pism and the liberal international order through a comparative analysis  of the Sochi 2014 and Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, situating  their legacies within the context of the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics  and the deepening fragmentation of the liberal international order  (LIO). Building on the idea that contestation of the LIO can disrupt es tablished institutional structures of international sport (Goretti, 2025),  and that contestation within international sport may, in turn, unsettle  the normative foundations of that order, this chapter examines how the  two mega-events hosted respectively by Russia and China – widely seen  as key challengers to the LIO – have functioned as platforms for the  projection, negotiation, and contestation of competing visions of world  order. By tracing both convergences and divergences in the Russian and  Chinese approaches to Olympism, the chapter seeks to contribute to  the growing body of International Relations literature on contestation  by examining Olympic diplomacy both as a mirror of the often-over looked multiplicity of contesting forces shaping global politics, as well  as a catalyst in their unfolding. 

Keywords: Olympism; liberal international order (LIO); contestation; Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics; Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics; Paris 2024 Summer Olympics