The Games are once again upon us. By this, I speak of the upcoming Winter Olympic Games,with Beijing poised to serve as gracious host once more, this time for the Winter Games of 2022 after widely acclaimed success during the Summer Games of 2008. The first city in history bestowed the honor of hosting both events.
Most unfortunately, I speak as well of the games nations may sometimes play when tainted their view for political purpose. And with a degree of disappointment it appears apparent we have yet to find our high note, our gold standard as humanity. This, while on the precipice of celebration of so many athletes that will strive to meet their own. Aspiring, inspiring each and all as stars amid a fortnight this coming February.
For this is the spirit of the Olympic Games. Its spirit and purpose served not through intolerance and disharmony but through acceptance and cooperativeness. Dare I say as well the love and well being for one another as members of one global society, one humanity. For love in this sense equates with that of which we find common at the core, that which binds us all, regardless of race, culture, nation or variation thereof.
We must strive to stand together under such spirit as symbolized by the Olympic Games. And refrain from withholding participation of officials that, if I may, risks compromising our inherent dignity and integrity for means and ends that only serve in separating us further from the truth of our shared destiny.
Why is this important? Beyond the historical significance of the upcoming event, these Games come at a time when perhaps humanity has been challenged like few times before. Issued an ultimatum, one might say, to either come together or fall apart.
Pandemic. Climate. Acts of terror upon all shores. Nations as China face storm upon storm as the adversity of today, weathering it through a collective consciousness, remarkably so given the stakes. Overcoming the odds of a menacing viral force; moving in concert with a greener, better world; meeting aggression with acts of higher elevation. Achieved only by working together.
Together. Apart. Two decidedly different directions, fates adjoined with each.
Unite under the spirit of – if not in adherence to – an ‘Olympic Truce’ as set forward by the United Nations. Or risk further separation from one another and a preferred destiny, the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.
The recent UN Resolution called forward “building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal.” The approach that China has taken toward the 2022 Winter Olympic Games has been emblematic of this despite what we currently face as global society, demonstrative of the effort and spirit required to emerge victorious at the greater game upon us. Providing for a green, inclusive, safe and open Olympic experience certain to provide for wonderful and lasting memories for all involved.
There are games of sport; games of rhetoric, politic; and then there are the games of life, those of which will prove far more consequential in the future we share. Pandemic. Climate. Terrorism. These are the games we must win. These are the games where the zero-sum is simply this: we will either win or lose as one.
Through the Olympic experience, we praise the athletes that ascend sport to the greatest heights known. Finding the strength, courage, conviction that precedes moments as these, moments that demand the very best of us. Serving as symbol and metaphor, for the greater game upon us. In the spirit of such, mankind must transcend its competitive inclination for its more cooperative nature. One that better serves our present and future world.
I would dare be so bold as to say the purpose of Games as these is in building a more cooperative spirit than one merely competitive. While athletes and nations compete across an array of sporting events, it is the cooperative nature of all that allows for such possibility to exist. And we have near 3,000 years of Olympic history to validate this. I know the IOC and its President Thomas Bach would concur, given his recent statement of full support, standing “ready to continue its close cooperation with China” in lead up to the Games.
Under this spirit and with due respect to all involved, politics that tend to polarize as opposed to unify ought best to sit this one out, as audience and not participant. The purpose of these games is to serve in uniting a world under a common flag, one with five rings inclusive of all nations in symbol. With little room for actors that serve in the separation from what is our unifying truth.
Let us move our attention to those worthy of our praise, to the individual athletes soon to descend upon Beijing who have overcome great odds to find themselves at the footstep of the grandest stage. Representing, as well, nations striving for their own version of greatness. Within a world that serves as gauntlet, one that must be overcome in order that each and all may receive due reward as destiny our shared future as humanity.
So let the games begin! Games filled with anticipation, of shining moments upon a stage erected through the common will of the race human. The most important race we will ever know, be it upon skate or ski. Upon a surface slippery, as well the slopes we face, staring out upon a destiny shared, beyond the tips of skis entrusted, draped in country colors yet with a patch that unites, ringed by design in a manner inclusive, spectrum of colors that embody the variation of one body of nations. United in moments as these.
May the forthcoming 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing be symbolic of the greater game we face. The purpose it serves. And of the opportunity that awaits us all beyond the times our current adversity…
Achieving gold as the only standard worthy of mankind adjoined in journey and destiny.