THE PARIS OLYMPICS

Aug 14, 2024 Letters, Sports

Dear Editor,

Following the spectacular opening ceremony of the XXXIII Olympic Games in Paris, France, home of the baguette and croissant, I turned my attention temporarily away from following the depressing and sensational news beamed to us through international TV news channels’ with reports on the Israeli-Gaza and Russia/Ukraine wars as well as the US election campaign. Unavoidably, I kept a watchful eye on developments on the domestic political front in Guyana.

At the opening ceremony, ‘L’hymne à l’amour” ‘A Tribute To Love’ by the late French singer Edith Piaf and beautifully sung by Celine Dion at the Eiffel Tower touched the hearts of many beyond the shores of France and borders of the Pyrenees. The three iconic symbols of the games was a combination of the gold medal, the Olympic flame, and Marianne that brought together those values, while the Phryge, the little red cap reflected the French Republic, its history and freedom, a touch that made the Olympic Games truly special, save and except that Russia was banned but Ukraine allowed and Palestine being absent while Israel was present.

Ironically, while the wars were raging and protests taking place in Tel Aviv, in major cities in the UK; in Caracas, Bangladesh and Lagos, thousands were cheering at the games in Paris. And one week after the opening of the games, the world woke up to the news that Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader and lead negotiator of Hamas along with a bodyguard were assassinated in Tehran. Hanieh was in Iran to attend the swearing-in of the newly elected Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Such is the paradoxical nature of humanity. A demonstration of the intricacies and complexities of our existence through diametrically opposed, if not surreal and contradictory circumstances of life under conditions of war and peace.

Watching the games was exhilarating, uplifting and personally satisfying, the events were addictive while they lasted. With its motto, ‘Games Wide Open,’ 206 nations, including 10,714 athletes including Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) and Refugee Olympic (EOR) teams competed in the 329 events in 32 sports (48 disciplines) assisted by 45K volunteers.

From national championships in their respective countries to the Olympics, we saw dreams come true, stadiums packed with people overcome with emotion, tears of joy, disappointment and sadness as the results of breath taking track and field events, races of all kinds, electrifying basketball,volleyball and tennis events of sorts, swimming and aquatic sports unfolded. The display of skills was par excellence! In the stadiums were parents, relatives and friends as well as fans who travelled all the way to Paris to support the athletes. The camaraderie and high degree of sportsmanship amongst the competitors was truly amazing.

Physical, health issues and female eligibility in boxing spurred renewed controversy over gender in sports. The gender dispute saw the Italian boxer Angela Carini pulling out from competing against Algerian Imane Khelif over her alleged failure of a gender eligibility test claiming it was “not a fight amongst equals.” Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting also got ensnared unfortunately in the dispute over failure of an eligibility test. Regrettably, this controversy will prevail long after Paris. In my view, the meaning of fairness in sport is philosophical in nature, and as such cannot be resolved by science or medicine alone.

Reports indicate that Chinese athletes and aquatic competitors were subjected to three to four times more doping/drug tests than any other team of athletes from other countries contesting at the games. Continued failure to address this matter, has resulted in the International Olympic and the World Athletic Doping Association Committee’s roles being called into question.

Of interest, was the role played by the judges versus the expert and knowledgeable commentators. While judges were awarding scores based on points, the commentators were ‘awarding’ points based on their knowledge and experience.

Occasionally, the amount of time judges took to post scores, created a sense of anxiety amongst contestants and spectators alike. Some commentators appeared biased against gymnasts and swimmers from China, DPRK and Cuba pointing to flaws in execution while covering flaws of athletes from developed countries. That aside, humorous moments were shared by the commentators.

But while strength, endurance and being physically fit proved to be assets for the sportsmen and women, height in the case of Marchand and Ledecky, their long arms and broad shoulders mattered a lot. Long legs of athletes in track and field events and height in basket ball and volley ball mattered too. Above all, mental preparation proved to be a determining factor for winning.

For the first time in history, the Paris 2024 Olympics, including the Paralympic Games (Aug. 28– Sept.8, 2024) will see an equal number of men and women competing. This 50:50 representation of athletes makes the Games the first to reach gender equality. The women’s participation in the games was really astonishing.

It was fascinating to see the four fastest American women swimmers in the world; the women’s beach volleyball competition was exciting as well as the women’s rowing competition where the Romanians won gold yet the commentators remarked that the Romanian women had weak legs because they had participated in other competitions.

Caribbean athletes made international headlines as they shone like the Eiffel in Paris.

Julien Alfred of St. Lucia made history, wining gold in the Women’s 100M and silver in the 200 metres race. Thea LaFond of Grenada won gold in the women’s triple jump while Shanieka Ricketts of Jamaica won silver. Rajindra Campbell of Jamaica won bronze in the men’s shot put; and Lindon Victor of Grenada won gold in the men’s decathlon. Cuba won gold, silver and bronze.

Because of his casual dress and hand-in-pocket cool looking style, in the air pistol event, Turkish shooter, Yusuf Dikec’s shot went viral on social media around the world. Sweden’s Duplantis win of gold in pole vaulting was truly amazing and Bahrain’s first gold ever won the heart of many. But it was because of the location of the American Lyles’ torso that stunned the world apart from winning by 0.005 seconds that put him in first place after Thompson of Jamaica to win gold.

Having won gold in the 100 meter race, Lyles attempted to accomplish the incredible feat called the “double sprint” or 200 meter final which has only been achieved by nine sprinters in Olympic history. But Lyles ultimately came up short, winning the bronze, an incredibly impressive feat. He “collapsed” to the ground and accepted the assistance of a wheelchair to exit the arena. After the race, he claimed he was stricken with Covid-19.  Other amazing events that sent spectators ‘rocking’ and viewers glued to their TV’s were the Butterfly and back stroke swimming competitions, the table tennis doubles, the women’s volleyball competition with Brazil and Canada entering into a war or words but when John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ was heard in the background the disagreement evaporated, Also amazing were the basketball competitions, cycling, synchronized diving, gymnastics, the women’s mountain bike race, women’s judo competition, women’s football, surfing, skate boarding, the uneven bars, track and field championships and men on the rings. All saw stiff competition among the athletes.

In diving China swept all 8 golds in diving events. And winning gold, plus were Algeria, Botswana, Bahrain, Ethiopia, Kenya, and New Zealand and South Africa, Norway and Sweden. According to the chairman of the French organizing committee there were more marriage proposals ever during the games.

The family and personal background profiles of the gymnasts, and athletes who, from humble beginnings arrived in Paris to compete in the various disciplines, must have been most inspiring especially for youngsters and fans back home.

The games involved human beings who wanted to have a chance to fulfil their potential as athletes and to compete with the bodies they were born with. Notwithstanding its geographic size, the land of many waters, a much larger population, except for Jamaica and Trinidad andTobago. Guyana now has more financial resources, a long ago established ministry dedicated to promoting sport, and modern sports facilities. But alas, Guyana with the exception of Jamaica, was put to shame by Grenada, St. Lucia and Dominica all of whom won gold or bronze medals at the Olympic Games.

It appears that those countries chose carefully which of the 329 games they would compete in and their selections paid off handsomely. Guyana has four years to prepare for the next games in Los Angeles, USA, it must chose carefully and in consultation with the relevant authorities decide in which sport it has greater potential for a medal. By the end of the games the top five countries winning gold, silver and bronze were the US with 126, China 91, Great Britain, 65 France 64 and Australia 53. Olympics isn’t just about having raw talent and good training but also about national sports bodies planning carefully ahead of time and being competent in navigating the global sports world. Rigorous local and overseas training should begin in earnest with the provision of financial resources necessary. Andy Murray’s swansong, “I never liked tennis anyway” captured succinctly what happens in sport reflects and re-articulates what happens outside sport.

For the first time in decades, we saw a world, currently engulfed in chaos and wars, engage in global competition in an atmosphere of peace, but only in sports.

Yours faithfully,

Clement J. Rohee

• campaign, Clement J. Rohee, France, Paris, XXXIII Olympic Games