Are the Olympics a showcase for patriotism or individualism?
Letters to the Editor
February 22, 2006
There was a time when it was more important for an athlete to compete for his country than to compete for himself. When it didn’t matter as much who was standing on the podium as it did what colors were being raised in front of it. Those were the years that collective glory meant more than personal glory. When individuals synergized their strength and abilities and competed for their native homeland instead of for themselves.
Enter: 21st century. Spotlight: Torino Winter Games. Somewhere between the “Miracle” (1980) and the “Tomato” (2006), the script has changed from “we” to “me.” Because “like every other sporting event in the United States” the majority of our American athletes are turning a team-versus-team/country-versus-country competition into an individual-versus-individual talent show. It’s not about us beating Russia or Germany, and claiming gold for the U.S., anymore; it’s become all about getting the gold medal around “MY” neck. Which is why you have people like Lindsey Jacobellis showing off on the second-to-last jump of the snowboard-cross event. If she’d been focused on getting the gold for her country rather thank making herself look good, she wouldn’t have fallen on her butt and blown a 50 yard lead!
And if winning for one’s country is the most important thing, then why did Shani Davis quit the speed-skating team competition in order to -- by his own admission -- work on his individual event instead? And even when he did win the gold in that event -- the first African-American to do so -- did he relish the sight of his country’s flag flying high overhead to the tune of the “Star Spangled Banner?” Actually, he barely looked up throughout the entire ceremony.
Call me old fashioned (gosh, I thought I was too young to get slapped with that label!), but I liked it when the Olympics were all about the United States. Not about Shani Davis, Bode Miller, Lindsey Jacobellis, Michelle Kwan, or any other over-hyped ego balloon.
Samuel
Enter: 21st century. Spotlight: Torino Winter Games. Somewhere between the “Miracle” (1980) and the “Tomato” (2006), the script has changed from “we” to “me.” Because “like every other sporting event in the United States” the majority of our American athletes are turning a team-versus-team/country-versus-country competition into an individual-versus-individual talent show. It’s not about us beating Russia or Germany, and claiming gold for the U.S., anymore; it’s become all about getting the gold medal around “MY” neck. Which is why you have people like Lindsey Jacobellis showing off on the second-to-last jump of the snowboard-cross event. If she’d been focused on getting the gold for her country rather thank making herself look good, she wouldn’t have fallen on her butt and blown a 50 yard lead!
And if winning for one’s country is the most important thing, then why did Shani Davis quit the speed-skating team competition in order to -- by his own admission -- work on his individual event instead? And even when he did win the gold in that event -- the first African-American to do so -- did he relish the sight of his country’s flag flying high overhead to the tune of the “Star Spangled Banner?” Actually, he barely looked up throughout the entire ceremony.
Call me old fashioned (gosh, I thought I was too young to get slapped with that label!), but I liked it when the Olympics were all about the United States. Not about Shani Davis, Bode Miller, Lindsey Jacobellis, Michelle Kwan, or any other over-hyped ego balloon.
Samuel
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