From their inception in Ancient Greece in the Eighth Century B.C.E., the Olympic Games have operated in a political climate of conflict and violence. One of the purposes of the original Olympics was to create a time of truce in the ceaseless warfare among the Hellenic tribes, a collective 'time-out' in which the Hellenes could contemplate their common core values and celebrate together their idea of civilization. The olive branch as the prize for the winners of the competitions is itself the symbol of this original purpose. Conceived in response to a perpetual state of strife, the Olympics were a cry for peace and understanding through a non-violent form of striving, a competition for displaying and affirming human values.

Our modern Olympics were also conceived in a state of warfare, the Greek movement for independence from Turkey. The idea of reviving the Olympic Games in our modern world was suggested by the poet Panagiotis Soutsos in the 1830's as a way of demonstrating to the whole human family the value of the freedom the Greeks had so recently achieved. In 1894, the French nobleman Pierre Frédy, Baron de Coubertin, developed the Olympic idea into the International Olympic Committee (in part to make the French more fit to ward off German aggression) which inaugurated the first modern games in Athens in 1896.

In our recent history, political conflicts have continued to rage around the Olympic Games. In 1956, several European nations and several African nations boycotted the Olympics: the Europeans to protest the Soviet suppression of the uprisings in Hungary; the Africans to protest the invasion of the Suez canal zone by British and French forces. In 1980, the USA boycotted the games to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The People's Republic of China has always blocked the participation of athletes from the Republic of China (Taiwan) even when appropriate political compromises had been effected. At the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics, eleven Israeli athletes were murdered by the Palestinian terrorist organization Black September. To this day, Iran does not permit its athletes to compete with Israeli athletes.

In addition to these political conflicts, our modern Olympics have been plagued with the problems of doping and of other improper means for achieving Olympic victory such as state sponsorship of athletes, the blurring of the lines of distinction between amateur and professional, and the offering of financial and other incentives to motivate athletes.

In the midst of all this dark turmoil, however, the spark of the Olympic torch has always managed to ignite a flame of true light. In the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics, Lutz Long, a German athlete from Leipzig, in the face of Nazi racial hatred, gave up his own chance of glory (a silver medal) to assist Jesse Owen, a Black American, in winning the gold medal (his fourth) in the long jump. (Dr Long was posthumously awarded the Pierre de Coubertin medal for his demonstration of the true Olympic spirit.)

The Olympics, as originally conceived in Ancient Greece, were intended to celebrate the artistic and athletic achievements of citizens, that is, of amateurs, not professionals, of people who worked regular jobs, enjoyed normal lives, and displayed exceptional ability and accomplishment in a field of play. Politically, they were designed to foster communication and solidarity among citizens to promote the common good. It is not an Olympian ideal to be the fastest male or female runner on earth, if you must sacrifice all else to achieve that goal. It is not an Olympian ideal to amass at all costs as many medals as you can for your nation. The Olympian ideal is to develop a divinely given gift to its perfection for the benefit of the community within the boundaries of your humanity and your citizenship. To do otherwise is to be a 'monster,' a thing exaggerated and distorted for the purpose of showing off (the original meaning of the word monster). We have created a system through financial incentives, endorsements, hype, and biochemistry, that produces 'freaks' for public display. We have created a system that does not focus on the welfare of the participants but on the profits and politics of the sponsors.

Olympian athletes are not gladiators.

The current controversy on Tibet and on other anti-human (rights) policies of the Chinese government provides us with a singular opportunity to rethink from scratch our contemporary way of conducting the Olympics. How did we take such a human and humane idea and turn it into a monstrous spectacle for profit? How can it possibly benefit humanity or the athletes to compete in an air-polluted Beijing in a political context contrived to promote the Chinese government's image rather than the welfare of China's citizens, China's power rather than her responsibilities, China's new buildings rather than her profound and ancient humanistic culture?

For over twenty years, I have been a 'minder' for the San Miguel Mexico Chapter of International PEN for Tibetan monks and writers who have been persecuted and imprisoned for writing in their native Tibetan language. I focused my efforts especially on the case of Ngawang Gyaltsen, a Tibetan monk who was imprisoned by the Chinese authorities for over 16 years for translating the United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights into the Tibetan language. The Chinese understand that the most effective way to suppress a culture and a people is by suppressing their language.

Let's take good advantage of the current Tibet protests. In the true spirit of the Olympics, let's take a collective 'time-out' to re-think the meaning of the games in our contemporary world. Let's try to find ways of making our Olympic Games an opportunity for affirming universal human values, for recovering the original Olympic spirit for our times.

Nick Patricca, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus at Loyola University Chicago
Playwright in residence at Victory Gardens Theater Chicago

phone: 773.338.9416
email: patricca@sbcglobal.net