Jamie Nye: The Beijing Games put sports fans in an ethical conundrum

The Beijing Olympics are 17 days away and of course these Games have become extremely political — as they should be.

China is not a team player on the global stage, with troubling policies and more troubling claims of human rights violations.

But as we near these Games, we see more and more athletes from home getting their once-in-a-lifetime chance to win an Olympic gold medal.

Here is the conundrum the Olympics puts us in: These Games would be easy to boycott, but the national federations are all going. The diplomatic boycotts are a bunch of pretending that you’re doing something just to do as little as possible so you can’t be called out for doing nothing.

I want the athletes to earn their medals. I want athletes to achieve their goals. I want athletes to see the payoff of a lifetime of sacrifice to get to the highest level.

I don’t want the Olympics in Beijing. I don’t think China should be rewarded or allowed the ability to spread its propaganda.

I will be celebrating the individuals achieving their goals while making it clear I don’t agree with where they’re doing it. And yes, you can do both.