MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / September 17, 2000

The Sydney 2000 Olympic Games officially got underway last night (or was it today?) with the Opening Ceremonies. For the next two weeks, wewill watch athletes from every corner of the globe assemble in Sydney, completing dreams years in the making.

Every one of those athletes will be competing toward one goal – to win a gold medal. Only a small percentage will accomplish that goal. But in thewords of a commentator during the 1996 Games in Atlanta, one does not have to wear a gold medal to be an Olympic champion. For most of theathletes competing, their success of just getting to compete in Sydney is a story in itself.

For the Olympics are not about gold, silver and bronze medals. They mightget most of the attention during the Games but they are not what the spirit of the Games are about. The Dream Team may get the publicity butfor every NBA millionaire, there is a runner from a country many Americans probably have never heard of who has trained and sacrificed just as much just to be able to represent that country.

Yes, there are problems with the Olympics just as there are with every sport. There is the scandal of officials taking bribes to award the Gamesto a certain city. There are drug scandals and over commercialization ofthe Games. The Olympics have gone through wars and depressions,terrorist attacks and boycotts.

Yet the Games have survived because there is something about them that touches everyone of us. Throughout history, they have brought out the bestthat we all can be.

The Olympics are Luz Long giving a tip to Jesse Owens when Owens was one foul away from elimination in the long jump at the 1936 Games.

Owens went on to win the gold medal, Long the silver. Thirty-two yearslater, Ralph Boston gave Bob Beamon the same advice in a similar circumstance. Beamon went on to win the gold, Boston the bronze.The Olympics are Kerri Strug ignoring the pain in her ankle, completing her final vault to give the U.S. Gymnastics team the gold medal in 1996 inAtlanta.

The Olympics are Great Britain’s Heather Guiness informing officials of two touches against her that they had missed in a fence-off during the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles. Those touches turned out to be the winningmargin for Ellen Preis of Austria for the gold medal.

The Olympics are Jeff Blatnick who won the gold medal in wrestling in Los Angeles in 1984, four years after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease.

The Olympics are Japanese gymnast Shun Fujimoto who dismounted on the rings with a broken leg and scored an 9.7. Fujimoto withdrew after theexercise but by staying in the competition when he did, he allowed the Japanese team to win the gold medal.

The Olympics are Michael Johnson’s gold shoes flashing down the track in Atlanta in 1996 like the winged shoes of Mercury in mythology. They areJohnson crying on the awards stand after winning the gold medal in the 200.

The Olympics are Jim Thorpe impressing the King of Sweden during the 1912 Olympics. They are Owens showing up Adolph Hitler 24 years later inBerlin.

The Olympics are Al Oerter coming back time and time again to prove he was the best in his field. They are Dan Jansen persevering until he cameaway with the gold in 1994.

The Olympics are Abebe Bikila running without shoes to win the gold medal in the marathon in 1960.

The Olympics are Tanzania runner John Stephen Akhwari in Mexico City in 1968. An hour after the winner had crossed the finish line in themarathon, Akhwari entered the stadium, his leg bloody and bandaged. Hecrossed the line as the few remaining spectators roared their appreciation.

Afterwards, Akhwari was asked why he had not retired from the race. Hisanswer was the epitome of what the Olympics stand for – “My country did not send me to Mexico City to start the race. They sent me to finish.”

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