Photo by Luca Dugaro on Unsplash
Well, as if we didn’t have enough news to keep up us occupied this summer, along came the refreshing summer breeze of the Paris Olympics, which happened to coincide with the joyful rise of Kamala Harris as the head of the Democratic ticket.
Just what we needed!
There are many names we will remember: Leon Marchand, winning four gold medals in swimming for his home country of France; the women’s swim team, featuring Katie Ledecky, now the most decorated female athlete of all time; the great Simone Biles and her competitor Rebeca Andrade, who took home four medals to Brazil, a country that had never medaled in gymnastics; Yavoslava Mahuchikh, the female high jumper who took the gold in honor of her besieged country of Ukraine; Sifan Hassan, who arrived in the Netherlands at age 15 as an Ethiopian refugee, took the gold in the women’s marathon and two bronze medals in the 5000 and 10,000 meter contests; those Chinese divers; and all of those track and field stars who wowed us at every finish line.
Many other worthy athletes did not get a primetime spot on NBC, but are worth celebrating all the same: Woojin Kim and Sihyeon Lim were the male/female archers from South Korea who swept the gold in all of the archery events; Harrie Lavreson of the Netherlands took three gold medals in cycling; Lisa Carrington of New Zealand took three gold medals in canoeing; and the Germans swept the kayaking events.
Beyond all that, several athletes stole our hearts. American Stephen Nedoroscik was a last-minute replacement for the men’s gymnastics team, but won two bronze medals. But it was his taking off his thick glasses and going from Clark Kent to Superman that endeared him to us. American runner Quincy Wilson, a baby-faced 16-year-old, help the team win gold in the men’s 4x400 relay. And after the American men faltered in the baton pass in the 4x100, the Canadians surged across the finish line for an unexpected gold medal. Who can forget Australia’s B-girl Raygun’s breakdancing “performance”? It was not good, but done with heart and humor. Novak Djokovic, for all his accomplishments, had never won an Olympic gold medal. To see him cry upon victory swept away a lot of the coldness we’d seen from him over the years.
Because NBC was covering the event, they naturally focused on the struggles and triumphs of the American athletes. But here’s the thing: I think most American viewers did not need to see the Americans winning in order to enjoy the spectacle.
Everyone on that stage got there through years of hard work, grit, and maybe a drop of luck. We enjoyed seeing their athletic prowess while we sat on our couches eating M&Ms and buttered popcorn.
It was an amazing sight, seeing athletes congratulate and hug each other, even if they had lost. Even if they spoke different languages. Even if their skin tones were different colors. Even if they practiced different religions.
There were a couple of controversies, both MAGA-nified. First, there was a brouhaha about drag queens mocking the Last Supper during the opening ceremonies. It turns out, it was a celebration of Dionysus (you know, from the Greek—where the Olympics started), the God of wine, and has long featured drama, comedy, and satire as part of its festivals.
The second concerned Algerian female boxer Imane Khelif, who ultimately won the gold. There were complaints that she was really a man (“Get women out of men’s sports,” cry MAGA). MAGA, by their own definition, defines gender as how you were born (“as God made you”) and, in fact, Khelif was born female. She does have elevated testosterone levels (as God made her). If nothing else, perhaps MAGA should reconsider their idea that gender is so strictly one or the other, based on visual criteria. Meanwhile, congratulations to Imane.
From Celine Dion’s magnificent rendition of “Hymne a l’Amour” to close the Opening Ceremony to the moving, French avant-garde artistry at the Closing Ceremony (before Tom Cruise swooped in to “carry the baton” to the United States for the games in Los Angeles in 2028), this was an experience to savor.
In Kamala Harris’s first big speech in Philadelphia, after introducing her running mate, Tim Walz, she quieted the crowd after chants of “Lock him up” and said, “This is not just about Donald Trump. This is about what kind of world we want to live in, in the future.”
As demonstrated by the Olympics, it’s a world of achievement based on merit, a world of hope, a world of respect, a world of unity, a world of joy. In that microcosm, the athletes showed us that this was possible.
May we lead by their example.
Thanks for all the good reminders, Kevin.