Bridging Divides Or Deepening Them? The Olympics’ US-China Narrative

Sunday, August 11th, marked the last day of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. This year’s Games are surely one to be remembered, with NBCUniversal reporting an average of 30.6 million viewers across their platforms and a total of 23.5 billion minutes of streaming time, making this year’s event the most streamed Olympics of all time, according to CNN. Many memorable moments were forged over the past two weeks, from Yusuf Dikec casually clinching a silver medal in shooting to Stephen Curry putting France to sleep in the Men’s Basketball Finals.

Something else intriguing also happened at the conclusion of this year’s Games: the US and China tied for gold medals with a total of 40 each. The US scored over half their gold medals from events in swimming and track, whereas China dominated diving, shooting, weightlifting, and table tennis.

The tie between the US and China was unexpected for many, with Nielsen’s Gracenote having predicted the US to win 39 gold medals to China’s 34. Although the US did beat China in overall medal count, scoring 126 to China’s 91, the surprising tie in gold seemingly overshadowed this achievement and placed the rivalry between these two countries back in the limelight.

This isn’t the first time sports has diplomatically affected the relationship between the US and China. Devoted Tom Hanks fans surely remember the 1994 classic Forrest Gump, in which Hanks stars as the eponymous character. Gump learns to play ping-pong at a military hospital during the Vietnam War, immediately displaying prodigious talent. He is selected to join the US National Table Tennis Team and competes in China, thawing relations between the two countries during a period of high tension. In Gump’s own words, “Somebody said world peace was in our hands, but all I did was play ping pong.”

While Forrest Gump is a work of fiction, it does touch on a pivotal moment in history. On April 10, 1971, a group including nine American ping-pong players entered China, the first Americans to do so since the Chinese Communist Party rose to power in 1949. The Americans were met with a warm welcome, playing exhibition games against their Chinese counterparts, taking tours of Chinese landmarks, and meeting with Chinese dignitaries. Four days after the Americans first entered China, they met with Chinese Premier Zhou En-lai. That same day, US President Richard Nixon announced the lifting of trade embargoes against China, setting the stage for improved US-China relations for years to come. Chairman Mao, particularly pleased that it was ping pong that brought the two countries together, would later remark that “the little ball moves the Big Ball.”

In 2024, sports seem to have evolved into a different role for US-China relations: as a source of intense competition and national pride rather than as an opportunity for increased understanding and cooperation. This revived athletic rivalry comes at a particularly tense moment for the US and China, with the ongoing race to develop weapons technology with AI, the continuation of a years-long trade war, a Chip War, as well as friction over China’s intentions towards Taiwan.

The Olympic Games have always served as a stage for displays of national strength and pride, but in this current geopolitical environment, they risk exacerbating tensions rather than easing them.

However, sports still hold the unique potential to bring different people together, just as it had done so during the era of ping-pong diplomacy. In fact, a moment of such unity was seen during these 2024 Olympic Games, when South Korean table tennis athletes Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yu-bin took a selfie with North Korean athletes Kim Kum-yong and Ri Jong-sik on the Olympic podium. Athletes of two diametrically opposed nations, which have officially been at war since 1950, were brought together by the shared Olympic experience. Such instances are a reminder of what the Olympics truly are: a celebration of sheer human achievement based upon the principle of friendly competition.

Geopolitical tensions often taint our perceptions of sporting events like the Olympics. We as spectators forget to separate athletes from their governments and turn competitions into an “us vs. them” scenario. The result? That surge of pride when an American athlete beats a Chinese one or that twinge of disappointment when China “scores one over us.” It is important to distinguish a “competitor” from an “adversary” and to remember our levels of common humanity. At the end of the day, an Olympic competition brings together athletes who share a common respect for both each other and the sport to compete at their very best, and that is something someone from any country can appreciate.

With the 2026 Winter Games soon approaching and the 2028 Summer Olympics to be held in Los Angeles (US), it may be increasingly vital for the US and China, as well as international sporting organizations like the IOC, to make greater efforts to bring back the days of ping-pong diplomacy — when sports served as a platform for international collaboration and sparking dialogue.

For the US and China, sports can open up a myriad of opportunities for increased understanding — cultural exchanges and joint sport initiatives — which may start efforts towards greater collaboration.

Sports are a foundational part of human identity. In a global context, sports have the power to either deepen divides or bridge differences, depending on how different nations and individuals engage with them. In the meantime, one thing is guaranteed: we as viewers can look forward to watching some extraordinary feats as athletes continue to push the edge of human potential, day after day.

Special thanks to Mr. Jonathan Hong for the exceptional editorial edits, content, and research that he provided. Jonathan Hong is a Summer Analyst at CJPA Global Advisors as well as a rising first-year student at New York University’s Stern School of Business.