I’m a sucker for the Olympics. I enjoy the pomp and splendor. I marvel at the physical and mental stamina of the athletes. And for a brief moment I believe in the Olympic dream of world unity.
I’m fully aware of the jingoism and the sometimes crass commercialism surrounding the Games, but I still relish the common ground revealed by the diversity of the participants and the fractional differentiation of their results.
It’s a tribute to the human spirit — and to human history, given the allusions to Ancient Greece. Although natural and man-made disasters have occurred repeatedly in the millennia since the Athenian empire, rising Olympic records suggest our knack for overcoming odds and for perpetual improvement as a society, or maybe even as a species.
The athletes of the Olympics represent what the human mind and body are capable of when focused on achieving their maximal potential. How often do the rest of us ask that of ourselves? How often do we ask ourselves to be the best version of ourselves that we’re capable of being?
Few of us are gifted enough to run 100 meters in 10 seconds or vault ourselves over a pommel horse while spinning in the air. But we all have tasks we must complete each day, tasks for work, for our family and friends, and for ourselves. Do we hold ourselves daily to our highest standards, or is our goal too often to expend the minimal sufficient effort? If it’s repeatedly the latter, we may never know what we are capable of accomplishing, and that seems sad and wasteful. We don’t have to be Olympians to be colossal in the lives of others and to fortify our own self worth.
When I watch Olympic swimmers I don’t aspire to be the next Michael Phelps (though I may regret ending my swimming lessons before learning the butterfly stroke). When I see the discipline and determination on display, it motivates me to try to apply those same virtues to my personal and professional life. This isn’t a clarion call for excessive Type-A behavior. Quite the opposite, because being our best also requires taking the time to be well rested and relaxed. This is true even for elite athletes. There’s a delicate balance between being persistent and being at peace with ourselves.
In many ways the Olympics seem a metaphor for human existence. Maybe the Ancient Greeks knew that, or maybe they just liked watching nubile, nude bodies. But at a time when the Hellenes faced immense challenges, they made a priority of bringing warring city states together for what was considered a sacred act of competition, and an Olympic Truce was observed for the duration.
Unfortunately, a truce isn’t possible today, with numerous ongoing armed conflicts around the world. The Paris Games are taking place at a particularly fraught moment in time, and in the midst of an extraordinarily unsettled and unsettling election campaign in the U.S.
Yet I couldn’t help noticing that the 592 Americans competing in Paris come from 46 different states, from California to Georgia, from Texas to Pennsylvania. As they floated down the Seine during the opening ceremony chanting "U-S-A," they seemed to represent a truly united team and nation. If these athletes can put aside their red-state and blue-state identities for two weeks, then maybe their fellow citizens can do the same. And who knows what could happen after that?
The modern Olympics were founded in 1896 on the premise of promoting peace, and France, which is also at a political crossroads, emphasized the importance of fraternité in our world today, by unconventionally showcasing non-native celebrities in the opening ceremony, including Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams and Lady Gaga. I encourage you to watch the Paris Games, and I encourage you to cheer, not only for the talented contestants, but for the civilization that established this tradition 2400 years ago and for the hope of that civilization surviving another 2400 years.
Devan Sipher
