Four years ago, I wrote the following in a column about Athens titled “Compete, Don’t Kill”:
“The Olympics is the kind of event that looms sufficiently large – for two weeks every two years – to shunt the kleptocracy to the sidelines, revealing it as the freak show it truly is.
The eager young faces, the lithe, lean bodies, the unabashed pursuit of victory (even the Canadians, well-indoctrinated about the evils of competitiveness, couldn’t suppress cries of “merde” and “crap” when they lost a swimming relay), the brutal regimen required to become the best, the irrepressible spirit that compels athletes to submit to the grueling grind. It is all so very exhilarating – no “shock and awe,” just awe. Some cheat to achieve an unnatural advantage over their adversaries, but for the most part, the Olympics are an expression of unadulterated merit – a concept that has been degraded beyond rehabilitation in almost all other human endeavor.
The acme of athletic achievement, expressed in the immutable truths of speed, strength and skill, is uncontested. The charmed men and women gracing the podiums of modern Olympia are there for no other reason than that they are the finest in their fields. What greater contrast can there be between the Olympian, who powers himself to the pinnacle, and the politician, who drapes himself in the noble toga of idealism, in the famous words of Aldous Huxley, so as to conceal his will to power.”
“It was as though the state and its hobgoblins – meant to keep everyone scared and subservient – had drowned in the swimming pool of Athens.”
Cut to Beijing, 2008: The fabulous Michael Phelps is once again forging ahead undisturbed–the greatest swimmer ever. He won the “400m IM in 4 minutes, 3.84 seconds, shattering his own world record in the process.” Ryan Lochte was resplendent in third place.
The rosy, sweet-smiling face of the American fencers said it all: the three, well-spoken, impressive young ladies secured gold, silver and bronze in the women’s sabre fencing event.
In 2004, we witnessed the come back of the legendary Martina Navratilova at age 47. The same spirit of sportsmanship and skill saw Dara Torres, 41, power the American team into second place in the 4x100m freestyle relay. Her time was “second-fastest in the morning final.”
No superlatives do justice to our gymnasts.
I hope the U.S. men’s basketball team doesn’t repeat its shameful Athens antics. I repeat my sentiments of four years back: “I only hope that our sprinters handle themselves with dignity during the high point of the competition: the American-dominated, testosterone-fueled, always magnificent, 100-meter men’s dash (forget it ladies: You are not in this league).”
So far, American athletes lead with 8 medals; China is second with 4: “America is in [China] to do what it does best – compete, not kill.”
Update I (August 11): So the French swimming team promised to “smash” the Americans in the men’s 4 x 100 freestyle. Who’s talking now, “Cheese-eating surrender monkeys”?
Jason Lezak swam like a demon, winning by a fraction of a second. The American team was terribly gracious—to the French. Nice young men. (Ours, not theirs) (Check out this atrocious writing, jam-packed with breathy superlatives. CNBC’s writer doesn’t even cite the French’s time.)
Swimming for Zimbabwe (WHY?), Kirsty Coventry is an interesting—and great—swimmer to watch. She has already set a record in the women’s 100m backstroke. The Zimbabwe government, and most all people in that country, put aside their animosity toward whites, dubbing her their “Golden Girl.” Zimbabweans realize that she is their only Olympic hope. With such talent, she lives and trains in the US, although her family struggles on in Zimbabwe.
For similar reasons, Jean Basson of South Africa is someone to watch—and someone I will root for silently. He swam splendidly in the 200m freestyle heats. (Except that you never know whether he’s using all he has and Phelps is just cruising.) Maybe an Olympic victory will win him a reprieve with his ANC overlords back home.
What a treat it all is
Update II: On American political posturing vis-à-vis China: I am so tired of it–of American meddling. I am sure most Chinese are too. Let them deal with their problems; stay out. Western media get it wrong on most issue. Iraqis had problems; but did they need America in their backyard? Far from it. Back off already. We have problems in the US! Severe infractions of liberty occur here daily, including death by police, and evictions and property seizures for nefarious reasons (with reference to the reader’s hereunder comment). Fight battles on American soil.
Our reader mentions the “surrounding [Chinese] authority,” which everywhere oppresses him. I see a magnificent event conducted with great decorum and pride and despite a lot of pious puling from Americans. To see “authority” in action in American cities, wait for the Demopublican conventions to roll into town. Puleez. What is it about Americans who insist that other people have nothing to be proud of, and only America has it right? You know what? The Chinese don’t pay the kind of taxes we in the US are subjected to. I’d like the Chinese government to intervene on my behalf in this matter.
In “Classical Liberalisms and State Schemes” I made the case that with our pathological need to rescue others we disable them. It’s worth a read.
Update III: Too many Americans, our reader hereunder included, seem incapable of seeing things from the perspective of the Chinese, most of whom are exceedingly proud of their country right now. The “boycott China” sentiment appears sanctimonious, voiced, it would seem, to show how fair the person expressing it is. Why doesn’t the “boycott China” claque “crumble” equally over homegrown injustice? Why not refuse to enjoy our sportsmen and women because of our government’s evils? Why not cry croc over the crimes this government, with the acquiescence of most of its people, committed in Iraq. The Chinese have not come close to that feat, not of late.
Update IV (August 12): Phelps swam a riveting 400m IM race yesterday. What power, what grace. He smashed the world record and led by a good second or two, winning another gold medal
Another cool cucumber is Aaron Peirsol who scooped the gold for an event that has been his for some years: 100-meter backstroke. Matt Grevers won silver. Both struck me as delightful (and gorgeous) young men. I have no doubt that watching a lot of news as I do on TV exposes me to the worst of humanity—the anchors and the Demopublican strategist duos. Among the Olympians one sees the best of humanity. To push the body and the mind to the limits takes a special human being.
The Chinese men’s gymnastics team took gold and was indeed superhuman. I’m a little sad that difficulty has replaced the artistic element that used to be part of the floor routine, but the Chinese and Japanese gymnasts were simply superb. Our gymnasts were good sports—they were not the best, but displayed such exuberance and energy. That netted a bronze.
I must say, I have no idea what the grumbling is about on this blog with respect to the “commercialization” of the events. Myself, I am more concerned with the introduction of dubious sports into the event in recent years—half-nude beach volleyball, for example. I fully appreciate that one can become skilled in this “game,” as Kerri Walsh has, but so what? Just so long as they don’t cancel the traditional Olympian draws: track-and-field, swimming, gymnastics.
To those of you who’re daintily about the gaudy, vulgar, capitalistic aspects of the Olympics—fine. Make a Naomi-Klein statement. But then concede that none of the taint sticks to the Olympians themselves, who embody physical purity. What an individualist one must be to achieve what these men and women drive themselves to achieve. There is no getting away from that.
Decades ago, I used to sprint competitively. Long jump was also a passion. A confluence of circumstances combined to cut my track-and-field endeavors short. I still run, if only to feel something of that feeling that comes with propelling the (aging) physical frame forward.
Update V (August 14): “Splash & Dash; that’s the men’s 50m freestyle. The South African champion Roland Schoeman, who trains in the US (but whose family no doubt is not permitted to emigrate here, because white), is a wonderful swimmer. He has qualified for the finals.
As a kid, I had watched Mark Spitz in 1972; Phelps is the most exciting athlete since.
