MEMO TO HARPER: Don't even think about a boycott.

THE CANADIAN PRESS, MONTREAL, April 4, 2008

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says it's too early to talk about any boycott of the 2008 Olympics, but most athletes would prefer to simply strike the dreaded b-word from the dictionary.
The thought of missing the Beijing Olympics weighs heavily on the minds of many Canadian athletes who have spent a lifetime training for the global athletic event. Politics and sports just don't mix, says Canadian swimming sensation Brent Hayden. "I'm an athlete, I'm not a politician and I'm going to compete at the Games no matter where they're held," Hayden said Friday during Olympic swimming trials in Montreal.
China's violent crackdown on riots in Tibet has prompted human rights groups to call for a boycott of the Games. Amnesty International has accused China of human rights abuses.

Harper won't attend the opening ceremony in August. Instead he will send a high-level delegation to represent Canada. The prime minister said his absence has nothing to do with a boycott and that he planned to skip the ceremonies long before the unrest in Tibet. The Canadian Olympic Committee would not comment on Harper skipping the ceremony. There is no set protocol on whether a prime minister or head of state should attend and rulers around the world are making different plans.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has mused he and the entire French team might boycott the opening ceremonies while allowing athletes to take part in competition. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she will take a pass on the opening while U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown plan to attend.

Calgary swimmer Mike Brown says he won't boycott the Games, but he wouldn't hold it against any athlete who did. "I would have liked (Harper) to have been there," Brown said. But the 23-year-old Brown says the thought of missing the Games is unfathomable. "I would be very heartbroken if everything gets put on hold," Brown said. "For somebody else to decide that we're not allowed to compete at the Games? That doesn't seem right to me."

Most Canadians seem to be on the same page as the athletes. A survey by Harris-Decima conducted at the end of March found only 13 per cent of Canadians supported a boycott, though more than half wanted some form of protest that would still allow Canadian athletes to compete. Pierre Lafontaine, Swimming Canada's CEO and head coach, says his team likely won't take part in the opening ceremonies as his athletes' competition begins the following morning. "I don't think the swimming team has ever gone because it takes four or five days to recover," Lafontaine said. But any boycott talk irks Lafontaine, who said "boycotting the games has never worked, is never good." Boycotts only hurt the morale of young athletes who have spent a lifetime training for an Olympic spot, he said. "This is the one common denominator around the world that brings people together," Lafontaine said. "It's the one thing -- it's not religion, it's not politics -- it's sports."

First-time Olympian Tanya Hunks says she has sacrificed too much to even fathom the idea of not going to the Games. "It kind of breaks my heart," Hunks said of boycott talk. "I've put my life on hold for this and so many athletes have." Hunks says boycotting the games in the past has shown no benefits, referring to Canada's boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. "Waking up at 5 a.m. is hard, so we deserve" to go, said the 27-year-old Vancouver native.

This week there were signs that tension is easing in Tibet as the Chinese government announced it would reopen the region to tourism by May. However, reports Friday said China's state media were reporting new violence had broken out in a volatile Tibetan region, leaving at least one government official seriously injured.