Olympics of fear and caution

The official Olympic start was bumpy. Actually, the procedure for lighting the Olympic flame with the sun's rays should have worked with the help of a parabolic mirror. But looking at the sky clouded the joy. Clouds moved in front of our planet of life. Fortunately, the Greeks studied the weather forecasts intensively and carried out this act in secret on a sunny day. They then preserved, observed and stored the fire until the day the flame was officially commissioned for Paris two days ago. As the saying goes: “The purity of fire is guaranteed by the special way it is ignited with the help of the sun’s rays.” So it is clear that a normal lighter or match would be an outrage, almost a betrayal of the Olympic idea . Purity. Oh how we would like to believe that during the competitions in the French metropolis. Everyone competes with a clear conscience. Of course, entirely in the spirit of fair play. That's how you want to see it.

Meanwhile, not far from the scene of the incident, rockets with their destructive power are flying west from Russia and crushing Ukraine. There is said to have actually been a ceasefire between the warring peoples back when everything was naturally better, much earlier in ancient times. In truth, even back then there wasn't much peace during the games. In 421 B.C. In the 394th century BC, the Spartans continually attacked Elis, the capital of the ancient region of the same name in the northwestern Peloponnese. At that time it was of national importance because it exercised administrative control over the pan-Hellenic Zeus sanctuary in Olympia and thus also over the Olympic Games. At that time, war was waged in order to be able to hold the Olympic competitions. A few centuries later, people are really happy if anyone still comes forward who wants to hold the competitions under the sign of the rings. The Roman Emperor Theodosius I banned the Olympic Games in XNUMX AD and dissolved all agreements.

Equality after a long time Welcome to the here and now. Thanks to the visions of Pierre de Coubertin in the 20th century, there was a new beginning. In 1894 he founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC). His actions were influenced by excavations in Olympia, Greece. The first modern Olympic Games were opened there in 1896. It was April 6th. 60.000 spectators cheered on the 295 all-male athletes. It took until 2024 before as many women as men were allowed to compete for the first time. By the way, Pierre de Coubertin was against the admission of women and was outvoted at the 1914 Olympic Congress. At least when it comes to equality, the Olympic movement has arrived. Everything else belongs in the story time department. In his fiery speech at the hour of fire in Greece, IOC President Thomas Bach said that the Olympic Games were the only event that brought the whole world together in peaceful competition. “Yes, it is possible to compete bitterly against each other and at the same time live together peacefully under one roof,” said Thomas Bach.

IOC President Thomas Bach. © ANSA / ARIS MESSINIS

You have to vehemently disagree with this. No, it's not possible. And certainly not the whole world. Only a part of it. If any. The sacred Olympic truce, the “Ekecheiria,” never really existed and now we are further away from it than ever. Now the Olympics are spreading more fear than confidence. The wonderful idea of a colorful opening ceremony on the Seine is already on the brink. Replacement plans have long been in the security forces' drawers. The fear of a terrorist attack is omnipresent. Paris has been the scene of orgies of violence on more than one occasion in the past. Incidentally, French President Emmanuel Macron asked Russia's warmonger Putin whether there was a possibility of suspending arms against Ukraine during the games. The rebuff that Macron received was not unexpected.

Putin abused the closing ceremony in Sochi in 2014 After all, Putin abused the Olympic idea back in 2014 to annex Crimea, i.e. Ukrainian territory, during the closing ceremony of the games in Sochi. It was a gigantic diversionary tactic. Now the Middle East is burning and, what is often forgotten, civil wars are also raging in Africa. Can we just devote ourselves to exercise without thinking for three weeks? So can we get distracted and pretend that the world is just waiting for the Olympics? Even as an institution, they were never free of conflict. Every four years, the games had to survive many boycotts and the attempt to use the rings to persuade authoritarian states to reverse their inhumane policies towards their own people can only be seen as a constant failure.

Pierre de Coubertin, whose heart rests in a monument in ancient Olympia, once said: “The Olympic Games are a pilgrimage into the past and an act of faith in the future.” It is an undoubtedly beautiful sentence to leave alone could, if one did not know that the Baron also made the following statement when asked by a French colleague why he supported the Nazi Games in 1936. “The most important thing,” he replied, was that they were celebrated magnificently. It doesn't matter whether you use it as tourism advertising like in California in 1932 or for a political system like in 1936. The modern Olympic Games lost their innocence much earlier than many people think. By its founder, of all people.

About the author: Sigi Heinrich The award-winning sports journalist (including winner of the German Television Prize and the Bavarian Sports Prize), author, long-time editor of the Süddeutsche Zeitung and Eurosport commentator from the very beginning (since 1989) dedicates his column “Sigi's Spitze” to the entire diversity of sport and likes to poach in foreign regions. Sometimes with a smile and a wink, sometimes thoughtfully or deliberately provocative. There should be something for everyone.

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Olympics of fear and caution

The current world situation already lies like a shadow over Paris, the city of light. Our columnist Sigi Heinrich, who is contesting his 16th Olympic Games in France as a commentator for Eurosport, also dispels the myth that in ancient times the weapons were silent during the competitions.

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