GOLD METTLE – The Spirit and Spectacle of the 2024 Paris Olympics

Okay, I’m an Olympics junkie. Each time this, the most sumptuous of sports smorgasbords—summer or winter—comes around Sally and I are there, glued to the TV, gobbling up as much of it as possible.

What is it about this spectacle that so many of us find nourishing? Why is its conclusion affecting me a bit like the last night of camp?

First of all, aren’t we all fascinated just to watch our fellow Homo sapiens push the limits of our species’ speed, strength, elegance and creativity? And not just the physical feats; there’s also the gamut of emotions that sport elicits—you know, the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat.* 

PHOTO: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

As with any sport at any level, the Olympics summons a sense of pride by association. We want our athletes to win as if somehow their glory might rub off on us. Like we’re a hundredth as magnificent.

           Nearly every encounter, win or lose,
           ends in honor and grace.

ESSENTIAL VALUES
I’ve always been a sucker for pageantry, and the Olympics is steeped in it, from the Parade of Nations, to the lighting of the torch, to the medal presentations and playing of national anthems. 

PHOTO: François-Xavier Marit-Pool/Getty Images

And then there’s the magic that occurs when different personalities and cultures come together in a common endeavor. It’s as much one of cooperation as of competition. A celebration not just of athletic prowess or logistical mastery, but of some of the essential values that define our humanity: hope, courage, perseverance, integrity.

PHOTO: Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters

PHOTO: Irish Independent

Sure, there’s intensity. Frustration, passion, grit…occasional wrath. But, whether it’s because of the rules of the game or the participants’ essential kindness, nearly every encounter, win or lose, ends in honor and grace. And when a young athlete who’s sacrificed everything else in her life to get there ends up on that podium, tearfully mouthing the words to her national anthem, how can we not be moved?

From Singapore’s 17-year-old Max Madera’s bronze in men's kite foiling—his nation’s only medal of the competition—to the transcendent Simone Biles and her comeback from emotional overload during the Tokyo games, the incredible range of life experiences brought to the competition by the Olympic athletes expresses most elegantly the beauty and value of diversity in our world.

          They’ve cast their light into the dark
          corners of our fear and division.

OUT OF DARKNESS
Finally, I cannot end this Olympics celebration without acknowledging the world-affairs context in which this years games have played out. For that colors how each of us perceives wonder.

At long, tragic last, the world has emerged from the pall of a pandemic. (The Tokyo summer games, if you recall, were postponed a year over COVID concerns.)

PHOTO: Washington Post

It’s a time when our country’s—and some other countries’—heart and soul have been under siege, with powerful people and nations conspiring to undermine democratic institutions, cheat their way to wealth and power and even challenge the very notion of truth.

And, as if that weren’t enough, the very survival of our species on the planet we’ve so abused, finds itself under more dire threat by the day.

ILLUSTRATION: Fabrizio Fadda, Dreamtime

In this perilous world, what a blessing these 2024 Summer Olympic Games have been. They’ve entertained us, lifted our spirits, touched our hearts. They’ve evinced the transcendence of the human spirit and, at least for a couple of weeks, cast their light into the dark corners of our fear and division.

We’d better hope the glow lasts; two years (until the 2026 Winter Olympics in northern Italy) is a long time in darkness.

* The promotional tagline, “The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat,” was popularized by Jim McKay, host of ABC Television’s Wild World of Sports, starting in 1961.