I am so over the Olympics. It’s been building a while, but the latest news have just made it so apparent how pointless the Olympic Games are to me. I worked on medical staff at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics (that’s my thank you note from the IOC). It was always a big thing, and having that opportunity was just like… WOW! So what changed in the past 25 years?
We can start with nationalism, and quite honestly that’s the official disease of the Olympic games. We’re number 1! We’re number 1! Medal counts by country? Yeah, the Olympic Charter set out competition between individuals and teams, but that whole dream to celebrate athletic excellence is now just a stage to put national pride and so-called patriotism centre stage. And where does this patriotism go in the games?
Let’s look at Simone Biles, and her recent decision to withdraw from the competition. Piers Morgan said she let down her country. Texas Deputy Attorney General Aaron Reitz called Biles a “selfish, childish national embarrassment”. Charlie Kirk called her “a shame to the country”. OK, I could go on but you get the point. A bunch of whiny, entitled, middle-aged, out of shape guys are wrapping themselves in the holy cloth of the American flag and attacking her. It seems that the right-wing media is having a field day with this topic: Right-Wing Media Launches Unhinged Attack on Simone Biles. And the athletic excellence of these commentators has been demonstrated …. How exactly?
These pundits have accomplished nothing in this regard but they use the Olympics as an opportunity to spout their nationalist jingoism. But it’s not just the nationalism that is coming up front and centre, there are other topics that also make me realize what a crock of shit this is and how it’s just getting disconnected. I wonder how this would be different if Simone Biles was white? How many of these talking heads ripped into Larry Bird when he spent most of the ’92 Olympics pretty much laying on the floor, because of his back problems.
Now then, let’s see what is going on with sexism, shall we. I am pretty dam happy to see women challenging the old men that govern high level sports, and in this instance it’s the Norwegian beach handball team, who chose to wear shorts instead of the mandated bikini bottoms. And they were promptly fined by the governing body. So then, can anybody tell me WHY the women are mandated to wear bikinis and such minimal tops, while the guys wear shorts and t-shirts? I looked at the executive committees of both beach handball and beach volleyball…that sure is a lot of old men overseeing the sport. I can only imagine the titillation they derive from seeing so much female skin (this is probably not the moment to make a crack about a bunch of old codgers waxing their carrots, so I‘ll let it go). So, kudos to the Norwegian athletes making a very public stand. And also I want to give a shout out to the German gymnasts who have opted for a unitard The German gymnastics team’s unitard is just the latest example of fighting sexism in sports | Salon.com The women should be deciding how much skin they want exposed, not a bunch of creepy old men.
Sure, I grew up with the Olympics, I can remember the terrorist attack and murders at the 1972 Olympics. In that same Olympics, there was the whole debacle of the USA-Soviet basketball finale. (Read the recap here The Debacle That Was the 1972 Olympic Gold Medal Basketball Game | SportsEngine) So please don’t get started on the myth that politics is not part of the Olympics. It always has been. Countries use it as a stage to promote themselves as …… what’s that chant …. oh yeah…. We’re #1! We’re #1! I don’t see that changing any time soon. And I don’t see how that benefits anybody.
But more to the personal point, especially as it concerns sports: I was an ATC. I spent several years working with athletes, of all levels, in the diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of their injuries. That’s what got me to Atlanta, and those were good memories. But I suppose we all grow up. Most of us anyhow, And the news coming out of the Olympics lately, such as bikini bottoms and Simone Biles…. It’s just been enough to fully complete my disillusionment with the spectacle. I just can’t be asked to give a rat’s hairy ass about something that seems to foster such negative aspects of life and where the values on full display are anathema to my own principles.