Post by Taxigirl on Aug 12, 2004 9:27:26 GMT
news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympics_2004/3557304.stm
How the individual is the key to the Olympic ideal
Asked to think of today's Olympics, you could initially think of a massive, spectacular sporting event, political connotations and patriotism.
But it is the individual athletes that are at the heart of the Games' ideal - with every single Olympian a part of the Games' history.
They may be heroes like Carl Lewis or Olga Korbut or someone who tried, like Eric "The Eel" Moussambani.
And plenty more will carry out the dream of being an Olympian in Athens.
Some, like American sprinter Maurice Greene and his swimming compatriot Michael Phelps, will be hoping to seal their place in history with outstanding achievements.
But there will be thousands more for whom just appearing at the Games will be an achievement.
Eric 'The Eel', a 22-year-old from Equatorial Guinea, had only been swimming for six months and had never swum the 100m before Sydney.
But his two competitors were eliminated for false starts and Eric completed the distance and thereby won his heat with the eyes of the world upon him.
The fact that his time was eight seconds off Australian Ian Thorpe's time for the 200m made his story more endearing as a celebration of the human spirit.
His was by no means the first experience of an unknown claiming fame at the Games.
In Atlanta, Paea Wolfgramm - a self-proclaimed 'mild-mannered clerk' and former rugby player from Tonga - was a surprise silver medallist in boxing.
His success meant Tonga was the smallest nation to win an Olympic silver medal.
When he returned home, the king of Tonga declared a national holiday and a local rugby team carried him on a chair through his village.
Indeed, Wolfgramm let anyone who asked wear his medal, explaining: "I felt like it was national property."
And there have been many other stories like Moussambani's and Wolfgramm's in Olympic history.
The Games give athletes the opportunity to represent their country and set themselves against the best in the world.
And it is the combination of the two things - and not necessarily whether you have succeeded - that is at the heart of Olympism.
Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympics, said in his writings: "The important thing in life is not victory, but the fight; the main thing is not to have won but to have fought well."
And the Bishop of Pennsylvania echoed his thoughts in a sermon in London during the 1908 Games.
"The important thing in these Olympiads is not so much winning as the taking part," he said.
We look forward to the stories that will unfold in Athens with all the individual athletes who make the Olympics what they are.
How the individual is the key to the Olympic ideal
Asked to think of today's Olympics, you could initially think of a massive, spectacular sporting event, political connotations and patriotism.
But it is the individual athletes that are at the heart of the Games' ideal - with every single Olympian a part of the Games' history.
They may be heroes like Carl Lewis or Olga Korbut or someone who tried, like Eric "The Eel" Moussambani.
And plenty more will carry out the dream of being an Olympian in Athens.
Some, like American sprinter Maurice Greene and his swimming compatriot Michael Phelps, will be hoping to seal their place in history with outstanding achievements.
But there will be thousands more for whom just appearing at the Games will be an achievement.
Eric 'The Eel', a 22-year-old from Equatorial Guinea, had only been swimming for six months and had never swum the 100m before Sydney.
But his two competitors were eliminated for false starts and Eric completed the distance and thereby won his heat with the eyes of the world upon him.
The fact that his time was eight seconds off Australian Ian Thorpe's time for the 200m made his story more endearing as a celebration of the human spirit.
His was by no means the first experience of an unknown claiming fame at the Games.
In Atlanta, Paea Wolfgramm - a self-proclaimed 'mild-mannered clerk' and former rugby player from Tonga - was a surprise silver medallist in boxing.
His success meant Tonga was the smallest nation to win an Olympic silver medal.
When he returned home, the king of Tonga declared a national holiday and a local rugby team carried him on a chair through his village.
Indeed, Wolfgramm let anyone who asked wear his medal, explaining: "I felt like it was national property."
And there have been many other stories like Moussambani's and Wolfgramm's in Olympic history.
The Games give athletes the opportunity to represent their country and set themselves against the best in the world.
And it is the combination of the two things - and not necessarily whether you have succeeded - that is at the heart of Olympism.
Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympics, said in his writings: "The important thing in life is not victory, but the fight; the main thing is not to have won but to have fought well."
And the Bishop of Pennsylvania echoed his thoughts in a sermon in London during the 1908 Games.
"The important thing in these Olympiads is not so much winning as the taking part," he said.
We look forward to the stories that will unfold in Athens with all the individual athletes who make the Olympics what they are.