The Olympics are a time honored event first held in Ancient Greece beginning in 776 B.C. through 393 A.D. The games were held every four years at the site of Olympia. Dedicated to the god Zeus, the ruler of all the Greek gods, Olympia was so named after Mt. Olympus where the pantheon of gods resided. For nearly 1200 years, men would gather from throughout the Greek world to show off their athleticism with their friends and foes alike.
The ancient Olympics were very important not only for its sportsmanship, but as a religious ritual, as well. I have always been fascinated by the fact that from every corner of the Greek world, soldiers would put down their weapons during these events. Though war was certainly prevalent between all the city-states during that time, they recognized that the Olympics were far more important than bloodshed. Each man was treated as an equal and was able to show their athletic prowess. Political agendas were put away, if only temporarily, for the celebration.
Since 1896 the modern Olympics have been reintroduced to a worldwide audience. Even for those not terribly interested in the sporting events may find interest in the intriguing Parade of Nations in the opening ceremony. From far and wide and from all walks of life, people gather to celebrate their country’s entries.
The Olympics have arrived again with much more drama than ever before. As the host nation, China has had much controversy over the last months. As the Olympic torch traveled throughout various countries in the world, demonstrators would gather, sometimes becoming violent, showing their abhorrence for the Chinese communist government demanding a worldwide boycott of the games. While gaining international attention, the violent acts not only did nothing to help the people of China, they contributed to the same brutality the demonstrators were trying to prevent in China.
During these disruptions, I have wondered what good a boycott would do. While my personal feelings are that the IOC should have never picked a country that allows detrimental treatment of its people, the deed has already been done. In 1980, when the U.S. boycotted Moscow’s Olympics and then in 1984 when the Soviets retaliated by boycotting the Olympics in Los Angeles, who did it affect? The Olympiads. Many of these men and woman had trained for years, dedicating their lives to the possibility of being on an Olympic podium, only to have the opportunity taken away because of political differences that they had no control over. The original sentiment of the Olympic Games was to put aside each nation’s differences. Yet, even in the 21st century some have a challenging time seeing past their own agendas.
With war breaking out between Russia and Georgia on the first day of the Olympics; the war between United States and the war on terror; not to mention the crisis in Darfur as well as countless other battles occurring throughout the globe, I am curious why we can not take the lessons of at least holding temporary peace from our ancient predecessors to come together to celebrate our sameness, our humanity.
There are those that criticized President Bush’s decision to attend the opening ceremonies. Our athletes are there. It would be more shameful to not show support for not only our people, but support for all the athletes that triumphantly have gathered. If we want to boycott the government, than boycott their goods, boycott commerce not people.
The emblem of the Olympiad with its 5 circles represents the 5 continents participating in the games: North America, South America, Africa, Australia and EurAsia. China is part of the Asian continent and holds 1/5 of the world’s population. Perhaps that is why the IOC picked China in the first place.
Clearly the opening ceremonies in Bei Jing were a complete departure from anything we have seen before. From the architecture of the Bird’s Nest Stadium, to the gymnast that flew through the air carrying the torch, to the 15,000 performers on the field, to the largest LCD player sharing historical events, to the most extraordinary fireworks show this viewer has ever seen. I am awe struck with the combined efforts of technology and the precision of so many performers.
There are 28 different sports included in the summer Olympics. There have been records that have been broken. Most famously, Michael Phelps, who initially thrilled audiences by his record breaking all time medal winner for multiple games; then a few days later he surpassed Mark Spitz’s most gold medals won by any summer athlete in a single Olympic games. With delight, we watch him beat his own records in every race. At 6’4, this 23 year old American hero seems unstoppable.
Michael Phelps is not the only hero at these games. As I watched the end of the opening ceremonies, a little boy donning a Chinese flag joyfully ambled out to the field with basketball great Yao Ming. It was announced that he was one of the survivors from the earthquake in China. Twenty children were killed out of 30 in his class. He was able to escape and he then went back to rescue three of his classmates. When asked why he did this, he said he was the hall monitor. It was his job. This boy of 9 is already a sage. We should all aspire to be like this young boy, showing courage, compassion and honor for his fellow human beings. As I watched him I wondered what profession he would hold as an adult. Perhaps he could be a groundbreaking leader of some sort or even go as far as becoming president of China someday. Whatever he ends up doing he is already an inspiration and a great leader. If nothing else, I shall never forget the name of Lin Hao, the face of what the Olympics are really about.
These games are not simply about “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.” As human beings, we all have differences, but instead of focusing on what we consider negative, why not celebrate our similarities, our humanity, striving to feel compassion for what we consider different.
Thank you for reading and Namaste! (The Light in me recognizes the Light in you!)
The ancient Olympics were very important not only for its sportsmanship, but as a religious ritual, as well. I have always been fascinated by the fact that from every corner of the Greek world, soldiers would put down their weapons during these events. Though war was certainly prevalent between all the city-states during that time, they recognized that the Olympics were far more important than bloodshed. Each man was treated as an equal and was able to show their athletic prowess. Political agendas were put away, if only temporarily, for the celebration.
Since 1896 the modern Olympics have been reintroduced to a worldwide audience. Even for those not terribly interested in the sporting events may find interest in the intriguing Parade of Nations in the opening ceremony. From far and wide and from all walks of life, people gather to celebrate their country’s entries.
The Olympics have arrived again with much more drama than ever before. As the host nation, China has had much controversy over the last months. As the Olympic torch traveled throughout various countries in the world, demonstrators would gather, sometimes becoming violent, showing their abhorrence for the Chinese communist government demanding a worldwide boycott of the games. While gaining international attention, the violent acts not only did nothing to help the people of China, they contributed to the same brutality the demonstrators were trying to prevent in China.
During these disruptions, I have wondered what good a boycott would do. While my personal feelings are that the IOC should have never picked a country that allows detrimental treatment of its people, the deed has already been done. In 1980, when the U.S. boycotted Moscow’s Olympics and then in 1984 when the Soviets retaliated by boycotting the Olympics in Los Angeles, who did it affect? The Olympiads. Many of these men and woman had trained for years, dedicating their lives to the possibility of being on an Olympic podium, only to have the opportunity taken away because of political differences that they had no control over. The original sentiment of the Olympic Games was to put aside each nation’s differences. Yet, even in the 21st century some have a challenging time seeing past their own agendas.
With war breaking out between Russia and Georgia on the first day of the Olympics; the war between United States and the war on terror; not to mention the crisis in Darfur as well as countless other battles occurring throughout the globe, I am curious why we can not take the lessons of at least holding temporary peace from our ancient predecessors to come together to celebrate our sameness, our humanity.
There are those that criticized President Bush’s decision to attend the opening ceremonies. Our athletes are there. It would be more shameful to not show support for not only our people, but support for all the athletes that triumphantly have gathered. If we want to boycott the government, than boycott their goods, boycott commerce not people.
The emblem of the Olympiad with its 5 circles represents the 5 continents participating in the games: North America, South America, Africa, Australia and EurAsia. China is part of the Asian continent and holds 1/5 of the world’s population. Perhaps that is why the IOC picked China in the first place.
Clearly the opening ceremonies in Bei Jing were a complete departure from anything we have seen before. From the architecture of the Bird’s Nest Stadium, to the gymnast that flew through the air carrying the torch, to the 15,000 performers on the field, to the largest LCD player sharing historical events, to the most extraordinary fireworks show this viewer has ever seen. I am awe struck with the combined efforts of technology and the precision of so many performers.
There are 28 different sports included in the summer Olympics. There have been records that have been broken. Most famously, Michael Phelps, who initially thrilled audiences by his record breaking all time medal winner for multiple games; then a few days later he surpassed Mark Spitz’s most gold medals won by any summer athlete in a single Olympic games. With delight, we watch him beat his own records in every race. At 6’4, this 23 year old American hero seems unstoppable.
Michael Phelps is not the only hero at these games. As I watched the end of the opening ceremonies, a little boy donning a Chinese flag joyfully ambled out to the field with basketball great Yao Ming. It was announced that he was one of the survivors from the earthquake in China. Twenty children were killed out of 30 in his class. He was able to escape and he then went back to rescue three of his classmates. When asked why he did this, he said he was the hall monitor. It was his job. This boy of 9 is already a sage. We should all aspire to be like this young boy, showing courage, compassion and honor for his fellow human beings. As I watched him I wondered what profession he would hold as an adult. Perhaps he could be a groundbreaking leader of some sort or even go as far as becoming president of China someday. Whatever he ends up doing he is already an inspiration and a great leader. If nothing else, I shall never forget the name of Lin Hao, the face of what the Olympics are really about.
These games are not simply about “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.” As human beings, we all have differences, but instead of focusing on what we consider negative, why not celebrate our similarities, our humanity, striving to feel compassion for what we consider different.
Thank you for reading and Namaste! (The Light in me recognizes the Light in you!)
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