Don’t forget the joy of the Olympic Games amidst the uproar surrounding Rio 2016
THE lead-up to the Rio Olympic Games has been the most negative I can remember. It is, perhaps, the most negative it’s ever been. Two weeks from today, the opening ceremony of the 31st Olympic Games will take place yet excitement levels are astonishingly low considering its proximity. The problems around the Rio Games have been constant and far-reaching; the most significant blow has been the doping stories regarding Russia which, remarkably, become more and more damning with every new development. The IOC will decide this weekend if the entire Russian contingent is to be banned from these Olympic Games but irrespective of their presence, the issue is likely to dominate conversation.
Rio’s challenges do not stop there; the Zika virus remains a threat and despite the World Health Organisation playing down fears, it has lead to a string of high-profile withdrawals, most notably the world’s four best male golfers. Rory McIlroy – who is one of the withdrawals – said he is unlikely to watch the golf and would rather watch the “sports that matter”, which did little for the prestige of the Olympics either. Then there is the host country itself – reports suggest that the Games are running in excess of 50 per cent over budget, the country is in its worst economic crisis since the 1930s and ticket sales are worryingly low.
The saddest thing about all of this negativity is that the joy of the Olympic Games is being overshadowed, and even forgotten. There is something about the Olympics that nothing else in sport can match. In fact, few things in the world possess that magic. Last Sunday evening, the BBC aired a show called One Night in 2012. It was a documentary that went behind the scenes of the London 2012 opening ceremony. It was a riveting 90 minutes of television showing the build-up to Danny Boyle’s remarkable showpiece, as well as the night itself. It was a timely reminder of how astonishing that performance was and the 16 days of sport that followed. At the time, Simon Barnes, the Times columnist, described the London Games as “the finest celebration of humanity in a quarter of a million years of our existence”.
It felt like he wasn’t far wrong. I’m not just saying that because it was a home Games and I’m not just saying that because I was there. The universal feeling around London 2012 was that it did something to Britain that few had experienced before. For almost every athlete who will compete in Rio in two weeks’ time, making it to an Olympic Games will have been their lifelong dream. It is often said that athletes train for four years for an Olympic Games; in almost every case, this is a gross underestimation. I remember watching Sally Gunnell win gold at the Barcelona ’92 Olympics and from then on, I wanted to compete at an Olympic Games. It took me 20 years to get there.
When you hear of the lengths that athletes go to to get to an Olympic Games, it reminds you just what it means to each individual. I spoke to Eilish McColgan earlier this week; at the start of this year, she could not walk The saddest thing about all of this negativity is that the joy of the Olympic Games is being overshadowed . . . There is something about the Olympics that nothing else in sport can match without pain in her foot and she told me that at the time, she would have given her right hand to compete in Rio. This is probably not an exaggeration and she is not the only athlete who I have interviewed in the past few months who has expressed such sentiments. I know that six months out from London, I would have done anything to make sure I got there. In the midst of this current negativity, the journey – and often the struggle – of each individual athlete is being forgotten. There is no other event in the world that so many kids grow up dreaming of competing in. There is no other event that can fulfill so many individual’s dreams.
It should also be remembered how powerful the Olympic and Paralympic Games can be. The Paralympic Games in London four years ago did more to change attitudes towards people with a disability than anything had done before. Every para-athlete I now speak to cites London 2012 as a seminal moment for them and their sport; people began looking at them as athletes rather than disabled athletes. No price can be put on that.
The Rio Olympics may struggle to match the London Games of four years ago; London set the bar so high it may be decades before it is bettered. But that does not mean the magic of the Olympics is diminished. For all the negative stories we are bombarded with, do not let it cloud your vision; the Olympics is a unique, special and glorious experience that cannot be missed – for athlete or spectator.
TOMORROW Hugh MacDonald