Like all sporting events through the years, the Summer Olympic Games have changed dramatically, sometimes for the better and sometimes not.
Growing up, I always viewed the Games as something that showcased the purest form of athleticism. While the Olympics did not allow professional athletes, it brought together the best of the best amateur athletes from around the world. It was a showcase for the less popular spectator sports like track and field, swimming, gymnastics, etc. Notice I said less popular spectator sports, not less important sports.
Back in the day, it was a way to find out about people like Bruce Jenner and Mark Spitz. It often rallied a country together as people forgot about political affiliation and focused on being united and cheering on our country’s representatives. In short, it was sports for all the right reasons as Olympic athletes were not being labeled spoiled brats like the professionals because of the huge salaries that they had begun to reel in.
Some moments have become nearly bigger than The Games themselves, such as the Miracle on Ice of the 1980 Winter Olympics when the United States stunned Russia to win the gold medal.
To be fair, there was still a lot of politics at play back in the day as countries threatened to boycott the Olympics as a show of power and a few actually did. There were a few doping scandals that also became THE story of the Games. With all that, there still seemed to be an innocence to the Games as America would routinely send amateur athletes to shine on the world’s stage.
That has certainly changed through the years as America now sends professionals to the international stage. With commercialism and the advent of this thing called social media, that innocence has now taken a back seat to egos and entitlement.
There are many athletes who still shine brilliantly as they work towards qualifying for the Olympics. Yet, it seems there are others who use the Games as a platform for their beliefs on everything from politics to sexuality to human rights. Some decline offers to participate in the Games because it doesn’t fit into their schedule or worse yet as a sign of protest because of some sort of perceived slight. That does nothing to bring our country together like the good old days, instead becoming another agent of divisiveness.
I am not a historian when it comes to the Olympics. I know there were plenty of things at play behind the scenes that a young boy was oblivious to. I just knew at the time that the Games were a chance to watch phenomenal athletes that weren’t in the NFL or the NBA and on TV every week.
When I think of the Summer Games, the sports that most quickly come to mind are track and field, and swimming. Interestingly enough, this past summer those particular sports featured athletes with ties to my home state (South Dakota), and even my hometown (Aberdeen). Needless to say, that makes watching the Olympics even more riveting.
As we all get ready for another round of the Winter Olympics, let’s hope that the focus is on the athletes who have worked hard to get there and not on issues like COVID, politics or some form of Skate Gate.
Maybe some form of pure competition between athletes most of us have never heard of is too much to ask for these days, but I for one would like to just sit back and watch the world’s best go head-to-head just for the pure joy of sport and pride of country. It’s really what the Games should be all about.