The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics opened Friday following a slew of political boycotts and warnings on the potential legal action that athletes could face if they speak out on contentious human rights issues. Beijing, the only city to ever host both the Summer and Winter Games, was awarded the 2008 Summer Games under the assumption that it would improve civil liberties in the country.

Discussion around human rights issues circulated into the limelight long before the opening ceremonies. In December, the United States announced it wouldn’t send an official delegation to the Beijing Games citing the Chinese government's mass detention camps and forced sterilization campaign against Uyghurs and Muslim ethnic minorities. This political boycott, however, did not extend to bar athletes from competing.

It is almost a recurrent of the U.S. boycotting the 1980 Moscow Summer Games, protesting Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan at the time. Russia, in turn, boycotted the following Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, but as far as the 2022 Beijing Olympics go, they have not been among the countries that have done the same. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov even criticized the U.S. diplomatic boycott in Beijing, telling reporters in December, "The Olympic Games should be free of politics."

Still, other nations joined in. A day after the U.S. announced its decision, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said no official diplomatic representative would be sent in representation of Australia to the Games, citing human rights violations in China. On December 8, Canada and the United Kingdom joined in. Japan’s government said it wouldn't send a delegation to the Games but has not yet declared an official boycott. Several other European countries joined in the diplomatic boycott by the end of January, including Estonia, Latvia, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Denmark.

The International Olympic Committee had only 2 options when it awarded Beijing the Games for the second time. Six possible European countries had withdrawn due to political or financial reasons, with voters in Switzerland and Germany not even voting in referendums. Beijing was ultimately picked in a 44-40 vote over Almaty, Kazakhstan.

China had previously called the human rights protests around Tibet an act of politicizing the 2008 Olympics. Calling the allegations of human rights abuses the "lie of the century," China says mixing sports and politics goes against the Olympic Charter.

Beginning with the 2024 Paris Olympics, host cities must adhere to the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. China was not subject to those rules when picked in 2015.