Sigi's tips: The rings give courage again

It is a beautiful world that I have found myself in. For more than two weeks now, and I am allowed to stay a little longer in this cosmos that surrounds me, lulls me, and makes me almost invulnerable to the poison out there, where the Olympic Games are not currently taking place. Of course, I inform myself every day, well before dawn, about what is happening outside of this sports parade in the French metropolis. Tanks roll, drones fire missiles, wars take place, expand, and new ones threaten. It is like a second cold shower.

A sobering experience and proof that there is no such thing as Olympic peace, as was supposed to have been the case in ancient times. I want to believe that, but I have my doubts, and it has also been scientifically proven that this agreement between Greek tribes around 800 BC could never be kept. And yet there is hope. Not only for athletes who can now look forward to an additional chance in athletics if their first appearance was unsuccessful.

The new procedure is called "Hope Run". There is hope that the world is not completely lost, even if high politics is increasingly seeking to drive people apart in many countries instead of uniting them in a populist manner. The focus is usually on the egoism of politicians, combined with blatantly displayed narcissism. In many cases, the people allow the real purpose of a government to be missed more and more, just like so many qualifications in a competition in Paris. Politicians are civil servants who have long since stopped giving life to this word. They believe they are the state. That is the real problem.

Olympia stands for a multicultural experience. © APA/afp / ALAIN JOCARD

But where do I get my hope from? It is the small, daily events in Paris that keep my optimism about the world alive. Thanks to the Olympic Games, people come together under the sign of the rings, people from all social classes, from an incredible number of countries. Unlike in football, where so-called fans are more like hooligans and only have violence on their minds, Paris is one big peaceful party. There hardly seem to be any language difficulties. If a group is dancing with a flag in any square, you are always welcome. In the bars, people move closer together and you quickly start talking. The Olympic rings connect us all.

And no, I don't see it as a naive, idealized view, but rather I experience it every day. The volunteers look after our equipment at lunchtime after the morning broadcasts, before we put our headphones back on in the late afternoon. And there are always stimulating conversations before or after. I tell them a little about my work and find out what it's like to live in the outskirts of Paris.

Without the volunteers, little would happen in Paris. © ANSA / ANDRE PAIN / POOL

Apparently it is not easy, because I am often told that the Stade de France is in an area with many social problems. "This is not Paris," says my conversation partner. I ask him whether he hopes that this will change now. "It would be nice," he replies, adding that right now, at this moment, he is very happy that these games are taking place out there in his home town. Out there, he actually says. He is certainly not in the middle of life, but he is full of joie de vivre and optimism.

This is not the first time I have experienced this willingness to become part of a global community. It is always the case at the Olympic Games that this special atmosphere surrounds you like a soul-warming coat. No world championship can convey this feeling. This is mainly because so many different sports and their protagonists come together in a small space. Skateboarders with their casual hip-hop fashion are contrasted with conservatively dressed horse riders. The beach volleyball players at the foot of the Eiffel Tower create a beach feeling and during gymnastics, Simone Biles' suit shines with a thousand Swarovski stones.

The selection of sports venues with historical flair contributes significantly to the atmosphere and when the Olympic flame floats over Paris in the evening, you feel as though you can escape the world for a moment. That is the enormous power that still emanates from the Olympic Games. Therefore, it is an immense responsibility for the leadership of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to preserve this still relatively peaceful part of our world against many currents that could cause harm.

The Olympic world still seems to be an island of predictable happiness, which is a small miracle considering the internal crises (doping, corruption). The return to Olympic values, especially the return to Paris as a host city after 1900 and especially a hundred years after the last Games on the Seine in 1924, has welded the rings closer together again, after they were only loosely connected at the end of the day. Paris is an Olympic stroke of luck. I still have a few days left, a few days in a world that, I know, cannot actually exist like this. That makes me enjoy it all the more.

About the author: Sigi Heinrich The award-winning sports journalist (including winner of the German Television Prize, the Bavarian Sports Prize, nominated for the prestigious Grimme Prize), author, long-time editor of the Süddeutsche Zeitung and commentator at Eurosport since its founding (1989), devotes his column "Sigi's Tips" to the entire diversity of sport. Sometimes with a wink, sometimes thoughtful or deliberately provocative. There should be something for everyone. In Paris, Sigi Heinrich will be at the microphone for the 16th time at the Olympic Games.

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Sigi's tips: The rings give courage again

In his fourth Olympic episode from Paris, our columnist Sigi Heinrich freely admits that he too is captivated by the special atmosphere of the Olympic Games. He is particularly enthusiastic about the international encounters.

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