Olympic spirit

Coming from what is, without a doubt, our nation’s best ever performance at the Olympics, it is easy to lose ourselves in feelings of pride and gratitude. And that’s the way it should be, to give our returning athletes the accolades and regard that is their due. But it’s equally important not to let the shine of the medals won eclipse what it really is that we should be celebrating.

The word “Olympics” has ancient connotations. The original Olympic Games were one of four events, the Pan-Hellenic Games, which were held regularly in ancient Greece, when it was not a single country but composed instead of independent city-states such as Athens and Sparta. They were religious affairs, meant to honor their gods through the achievements of the human body and by way of the spectacle of the games themselves. The original Olympic Games ceased to be held around the fourth century AD/CE and it would not be until the end of the nineteenth century that the Olympics would once again be held.

While he was not the first to attempt to revive the Olympics, Pierre de Coubertin was the one who succeeded, tying the revival of the Games to the ideals of pacifism and internationalism that were gaining ground amongst the elite of the world at the time. Coubertin believed that training both the body and mind were essential to developing human potential, and that the athletes at the games could become ambassadors of peace.

In the Fundamental Principles of the Olympic Charter, the ideal and character of the modern Games is set out:

“Olympism is a philosophy of life, exalting and combining in a balanced whole the qualities of body, will and mind. Blending sport with culture and education, Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on the joy of effort, the educational value of good example and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles.”

Of course, ideals are one thing, and practice is another. The same scale of spectacle that serves to inspire awe and pride in spectators has historically been used to further causes at odds with fundamental ethical principles. The 1936 summer Olympics in Berlin served as a means to normalize Nazi Germany in the eyes of the international community, for instance, and the rising costs necessary to host the Games in the expected manner has at times wreaked havoc on local communities and has in previous years led to allegations of corruption.

As for the athletes themselves, some nations and organizations have taken the words from the Olympian motto – “Citius, Altius, Fortius” or “Faster, Higher, Stronger” – to mean these must be achieved at any cost. And more often than not, that cost is paid by the very athletes that the Olympics are meant to center. While it goes without saying that training to be a top level athlete requires sacrifice, there are many stories of athletes being subjected to abuse, treated as objects or having their bodies pushed unwillingly beyond the breaking point by those that merely saw them as tools to secure glory, whether it be national or personal.

If we are to be true to the spirit of the Olympics, one which seeks to promote “the joy of effort” and universal ethics, then we cannot turn a blind eye to the wholistic welfare of our athletes, nor the way the Games themselves are conducted. Our women Olympians – particularly Hidilyn Diaz, Nesthy Petecio and Margielyn Didal – made their presence felt during the Games but celebrating their accomplishments without addressing the ways that international sports organizations discriminated against women does them a disservice.

I already mentioned the difficulties faced by mothers in my column on breast feeding, but women also faced double standards over uniforms from various international athletic bodies (not the IOC itself) in the run up to the Games. This type of institutionalized discrimination can turn many young women away from sports.

Placing the emphasis on the effort involved rather than victories won or records broken would also allow policy to evolve into one which treats our athletes as human beings, which supports not only their training but their health – including their mental health. When celebrated gymnast Simone Biles decided to withdraw from the USA gymnastics team final because she wasn’t in the right place mentally to compete, in order to protect her body and mind, she received plenty of criticism – but not from other Olympic gymnasts, who recognized the importance of Biles’ decision, to show a young athlete taking control over her own health in the face of unimaginable outside pressure. The fact that this seems like such a radical move – what is basically a young woman making an informed decision about what is best for herself – should itself be an indictment of the priorities athletes are expected to have.

In the end, Olympic medals are worthwhile goals, but we must never forget that what we celebrate in the Olympics is common humanity, the ability to constantly better ourselves, to reach new heights, to strive not only against others but with them. After all, the full Olympic motto is “Citius, Altius, Fortius – Communiter” which means “Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together.”

What we celebrate first and foremost are not victories, but the humans behind them – the people that win them, that strive for them, that sacrifice and dream of them. Athletic policy should focus on providing the support athletes need to do their very best, and to provide for those who have sacrificed so much to represent the nation, whether or not they win medals. For the glory they bring to their nation is not solely in victory, but in their conduct, their striving, their effort.

So let us celebrate Hidilyn Diaz, Nesthy Petecio, Carlo Paalam and Eumir Marcial. Let us celebrate Yuka Saso, Carlos Yulo, Margielyn Didal, Irish Magno, Bianca Pagdanganan, Juvic Pagunsan, Kiyomi Watanabe, Elreen Ando, Cris Nievarez, Kurt Barbosa, Jayson Valdez, Kristina Knott, Remedy Rule and Luke Gebbie.

Congratulations, all of you, for a job well done. May we have the honor of your continued dedication to your sports, and may your efforts inspire many more to follow their own dreams and mount their own podiums.

In every sense of the word, you are Olympians.