The Olympic Games When the next Oly

The Olympic Games

When the next Olympic Games begin, satellites will carry T.V. pictures of
the opening ceremony to millions of people thousands of miles away. From their
armchairs these people will be able to see their country’s athletes competing in
various events.

When we consider the size, the spectacle and the commercialism of the
modern Olympic Games, it is difficult to remember that they started in Olympia in
Greece in 776 BC with only one race, a sprint, for which the prize for the winner
was an olive wreath. Therefore, it is appropriate that the first modern Olympic
Games opened in Athens in 1896.

The games have also become politically important. They can now be seen
by nearly every country in the world and are therefore an ideal platform for political
statements. When Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan in 1980, many countries in
the West boycotted the Moscow Games. In 1984 some countries decided not to
send teams to the Los Angeles Games because they felt there was not enough
security and that they were too commercial.

In circumstances like these, the Olympic ideal and spirit comes into
question. And for athletes there is less value in winning a gold medal if the best of
the world’s athletes are not competing. The question is—how much longer will the
Games survive if nations continue to use them as a political platform?