And here's a great episode of Rhodes Center Podcast on how authoritarianism went from defense to offense on the world stage:
https://rhodes-center-podcast.captivate.fm/episode/how-authoritarianism-went-from-defense-to-offense-on-the-world-stage
Guess what: hosting Olympic Games in Beijing and Sochi was instrumental to the raise of relevant authoritarian regimes' soft power.
As it was, of course, for Nazis in the 1930s.
Congratulations to the International Olympic Committee for keeping that particular flame going, from 1936 Third Reich to today.