The Hindu : Sport / Olympic Games : Olympic Games — the most potent unifying force

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Friday, Aug 13, 2004

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Sport - Olympic Games

Olympic Games — the most potent unifying force

By S. Thyagarajan

ATHENS, AUG. 12. "Mankind is today walking along a knife edge...

Why will we not understand that Olympism can offer the world a recourse, an alternative, a chance, which goes beyond its sporting celebrations?''

These are not mere epithets stringed together to convey the essence of Olympism. The words rhetorically mirror the conflicting nature of the concept which triggered the rebirth of the Olympic Games in 1896.

Even as humanity awaits the golden dawn tomorrow to realise that grand dream, the words of the Olympics scholar Raymond Gafner provide a few points to ponder.

Regarding Olympism as the panacea to counter the evils in a socio-economic fabric is becoming increasingly irrelevant. Even if one assumes that the founder of the Games, Pierre Coubertin, was fully aware of the forces that distorted its purpose, the depths of degeneration are painful. Never in its 108-year history has the Games been plagued by so many negative factors.

The most alarming aspect is doping. The "chemical athletes'' — as former IOC President Lord Killanin called them — are all-pervasive. "The Olympics is the time when people risk it all. I have seen for many years how the Olympics brings out new drugs and new techniques,'' says Don Catlin, head of Anti-Doping at UCLA.

No doubt, the Olympic Movement, armed with a brilliant supporter like WADA (World Anti Doping Agency), has been combating the twin evils of manufacturing and administering drugs. And the battle is very much on. However, the offenders have managed to beat the system by producing masking agents for the competitors, many of whom are just mobile testing laboratories today.

Tough measures

The IOC has tightened the screws. For the first time, blood tests will be carried out in all events within 12 hours and the top four in every final will face a mandatory test. Nearly 3000 drug tests are likely to be done after 30 turned positive in Sydney 2000. The International Weightlifting Federation has announced that anyone testing positive here will be ineligible for the next Olympics in Beijing.

If doping is an epidemic, there is an equally worrying aspect — security. Since the 1972 edition, it has been on the priority list and has now reached unprecedented levels. Imagine a cover of 70,000 policemen, a NATO force guarding land and sea routes, AWACS aircraft ready for take-off, a communications network to map every mobile phone call and SMS message, infra-red high resolution cameras fixed to 1250 concrete towers and 4000 patrol vehicles, besides a unit to combat WMD and chemical warfare.

The U.S. competitors have been reported to be wearing a mask to avert gas attacks. All these at an estimate of $1.2 billion, three times more than what Sydney spent.

Sport or commerce?

Tragically, the world is a different place ever since 9/11. Perhaps, Ms. Dora Bakoyannis, the Mayor, was right when she said "in this insecure world, Athens will probably be the most secure city in August.'' Is not the Olympics paying a price for turning gigantic in the Seventies and transforming sports into a theatre of commerce?

Greece, the smallest nation to stage the Olympics, is the second country after the Soviet Union in 1980 to fund the Games from the state exchequer. Whether this will end in profits in economic terms is doubtful.

The Games is yet to be a sell-out and the costs have exceeded estimates by $12 to 15 billion.

The initial lethargy is costing dear. Three valuable years were lost due to dithering after the Hellenic Olympic Committee won the bid at Lausanne on September 5, 1997.

Construction delays, labour unrest and administrative apathy left the International Olympic Committee in jitters to the point of discussing an alternate venue. Restructuring the ATHOC with the influential politician, socialite and lawyer Mrs. Gianna Angelopoulous-Daskalaki put everything back on the rails.

"Modern Athens has never been more prepared,'' she declared, asking her countrymen to draw inspiration from the extraordinary performance of the National football team in Euro 2004.

The grandeur of the Games, however, masks all irritants. The congregation of 202 countries — the largest ever — is a tribute to Olympism as the unifying force.

Competitors from Afghanistan, Palestine and Iraq lend as much substance to the Olympic ideals as the two Koreas willing to march behind one another to match the spirit of the traditional superpowers.

The top five — U.S., Russia, China, Australia and Germany — are expected to win a major share of the medals in 28 disciplines, including women's wrestling for the first time.

As always, there might be an unknown gem or two from Kenya, Ethiopia, Morocco or Mozambique.

What is an Olympiad without achievers? There are quite a few. Michael Phelps, the U.S. wonder, is widely believed to have the skills to surpass the legendary Mark Spitz's 1972 record in the pool.

But will the Aussie Ian Thorpe allow this without a battle? And how can one miss the name of Russian stalwart Alexander Popov.

Notwithstanding the embarrassment of the unfolding drug drama, the U.S. expects around 11 of the 46 gold medals in athletics. Maurice Greene aims to become the first sprinter to win back-to-back gold while Gail Davers steps into her fifth Olympics. There may not be a Sergei Bubka at the pole vault pit, but an electrifying tussle is in store among the women led by the two Russians — Svetlana Feofanova and Yelena Isinbayeva — and the U.S. stalwart and defending champion Stacy Dragila.

No one can ignore the claims of greatness of two other Russians, Alex Nemov and Svetlana Khorkina, in gymnastics. China, which claimed 28 gold medals at Sydney, may be a force in table tennis, badminton and gymnastics, where the Romanians are expected to give a fight.

Adriana Stoica and Alexandra Eremia may not match a Nadia Comaneci but can raise expectations. A name to look out for is Brazil's Dianne dos Santos.

Where does India stand? After drawing a blank in three Olympic Games after 1980, Paes picked up a tennis bronze — the country's first individual medal after 42 years — at Atlanta in 1996. Weightlifter Karnam Malleswari then won a bronze in Sydney 2000. Expecting a gold medal in a sport other than hockey has some justification now.

India's best-ever

The Indian squad of 76 is regarded as the best-ever. Leander and Mahesh are expected to enhance the country's image in tennis. Hopes are also pinned on Anju George (athletics), Kunjarani and Malleswari (weightlifting) and Anjali Bhagwat (shooting).

Dhanraj Pillay will make history with a four-in-a-row appearance at the Olympics and will try to finish his career with an Olympic medal.

When the echo of the drums reverberates across the Olympic Stadium to signal the launch of the 28th edition of the Games on Friday, spare a thought for the man who made all this a reality.

The spirit of Coubertin pervades this wonderful, historic city. For, it is here that he lies in a marble tomb at Mount Olympia, not far from where all the action started in 1896.

Athens is all geared up for the 16-day extravaganza, hoping to meet the hopes and aspirations of a global audience.

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