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Mega sports events have long provided a virtual environment for international political contention, a diplomatic boycott of the Olympic games being a prime example. Few studies, however, systemically examine which countries engage in such political contention and why. This study contributes to filling the gap by investigating what led countries to boycott the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic games. In light of the existing literature, I derive three tentative explanations: 1) human rights consideration, 2) solidarity with the United States who led the boycott, and 3) economic consideration. My descriptive analysis of 91 countries whose athletes participated in the 2022 Olympic games finds support for the three explanations. Countries that announced the diplomatic boycott show high awareness of human rights. Most countries that boycotted the Beijing Olympics were allies of the US (i.e., members of NATO or Five Eyes). Countries that joined the boycott also had lower trade dependency on China than countries that did not. Countries with a deal on free trade with China did not announce a diplomatic boycott except Australia. Through descriptive analysis of 91 countries, this study aims to present the countries’ decisions to boycott the games rather than the perspective on the effects of countries’ boycotts. 

Ⅰ. Introduction	1

Ⅱ. Literature review	4
2.1 The Politics in Sports 	4
2.2 The Protest in Mega-Sports Events	5
2.3 Diplomatic Boycott in Mega-Sports Events	7
2.4 The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic games	10
2.5 The Research Gap 	11

Ⅲ. Explanations	13
3.1 Values consideration	14
3.2 Solidarity with the US	16
3.3 Economic consideration	19

IV. Findings	21

V. Conclusion 	46

References	48