The Best of Sports: The Olympiad

Why are the Summer Olympic Games so special? Why is it that every 4 years we turn our eyes to a far off city to watch sometimes little known athletes participate in somewhat obscure sports? We wait with hopeful anticipation that our nation will win medals, and we watch in awe at the spectacle of flags that parade through the Olympic Stadium. We become experts on rhythmic gymnastics and our happiness suddenly depends on the performance of a young fencer.

I don’t think there is one answer to that question. Certainly the spectacle of the games has become quite fantastic. The display of raw athleticism is highlighted in sports that we might not otherwise ever see. We learn of tremendous stories of overcoming obstacles just to qualify for the games and of athletes who are on a quest to shatter records.

But I think above all, what we celebrate at the Olympics, and why we are so drawn to them is that they call us to recognize our own humanity in different ways.  Not only are we drawn by the highs and lows we see in the athletes’ struggles, but we see ourselves as a part of a larger world. When Adnan Ta’yes of Iraq steps to the line in the 800m run, he will stand alongside Nick Symmonds, of Boise, ID running of the US. And for two minutes, it won’t matter that Ta’yes’s youth was probably marked with scars of war and occupation, or that Symmonds grew up with the privileges and safeties of being an American citizen. The track will provide a (literal) level playing field for the competitors, and will be equally as gratifying or unforgiving to all who choose to run upon it.

We will be intrigued by the wonder of all the stories that have brought the thousands of athletes of extremely different backgrounds together to compete in the same gym, field, or pool. We will be inspired by their accomplishments and we will take pride in how our support can inspire countrymen. We will desperately support our own nation, but inevitably be swept away by the prowess of another.  We will be forget our judgments and opinions for two weeks and let sport be the ultimate arbiter.  We will see how sport, something that competition has more to do with bringing us together than separating us. We will watch, and we will be amazed.


This is the first installment in a series of blog posts chronicling the Best in sports, exemplified in the Olympics, complemented by the Worst in sports, displayed in the Jerry Sandusky scandal.