Opinion
OPINION: Olympics are still the greatest spectacle in sports
As we are lighting up our barbecues for the Pioneer Day holiday, some American athletes will have already started their quest for the world’s most coveted medals 5,000+ miles to the east of us.
On Friday, we can gather around our devices and watch the opening ceremonies of the XXXIII Olympiad in Paris, France. It promises to be quite a show.
As for me, I can hardly wait to take in the unfolding of the competition as more than 10,000 athletes representing 206 countries strive to do their best in any of 329 events in 32 sports.
The modern Olympics have reached a scale that the original contestants from ancient Greece – and indeed, their “modern”counterparts of a century ago – could not have conceived of.
Heck, I’ve grown up with the Olympics starting with the Tokyo Games in 1964 when I was in grade school, and even I have trouble wrapping my brain around the figures I just cited above.
Nevertheless, I’m relishing the chance to watch the world’s elite athletes seek to rise to the top of their respective sports once again.
With the advent of Olympic qualifying standards in the most crowded fields, we’re assured that those we get the chance to seewill truly fit that description, while there’s still room for those whose greatest triumph will come by simply being there for the chance to represent their country.
It will be especially fun to watch the handful of entrants with local ties who earned a chance to try, regardless of which country they are representing.
For the members of Team USA, just making the roster is a worthy achievement all by itself. During the US Trials, it was frequently said that securing a spot on the US squad is often harder than competing at the actual Olympics.
It was also pointed out, quite correctly, that some who don’t make the team here could still defeat the best of other countries. There are even a few who posted better performances in the trials and didn’t advance than some who will probably earn medals in Paris.
That’s a tough pill to swallow for those who didn’t make the cut. There’s also a group of individuals who were expected to make the squad but instead suffered heartbreaking injuries during the trials which scuttled years of effort and dashed dreams.
However, those situations also opened up some heart-stopping opportunities for those who performed well enough to take their places, so the spectacle moves forward.
Very few who haven’t tried them can appreciate the difficulty of the skills involved in Olympic-caliber competition, not to mention the sheer work it takes to reach the highest levels, no matter which sport we’re talking about.
Make no mistake about it, the pressures on these athletes are enormous, wherever they come from. For some, an Olympic medal means the difference between a life of opportunity and prosperity and one of obscurity and even disgrace.
For the top performers in the marquee sports, the riches of endorsement deals and professional careers await. For those who already have that, such as the NBA players, there’s the satisfaction of adding a singular honor to their résumés.
I recognize that the Games sometimes fall short of the ideals the event espouses. They have been marred by politics, violence, cheating and other scandals. This was true in the original version as well as its modern configuration.
Fortunately, however, those reprehensible situations represent only a fraction of the totality of the Olympic experience.
For me, there’s something truly compelling about watching young people excel – one of the many reasons why I love covering high school sports.
To watch very human individuals emerge from years and years of superlative effort in the shadows and step into a glaring spotlight and give their best when the weight of the world is literally on their shoulders is both a pleasure and a privilege.
And, it shows something about the glories of the human spirittoo.
For most, it’s one chance in a lifetime, but even for the best of the best, the opportunity comes along just once every four years(give or take outside events).
That’s enough for me to want to be in the front row – even if only remotely – every time.
