My love of the Olympic Games is no secret, and I will admit my bias in that regard.
The 2010 Winter Olympics shifted the trajectory of my life. I was a sedentary 14-year-old back then, and my lack of athletic talent fed my lack of desire to get active. Nonetheless, I wanted to know what the other boys in my Grade 9 drama class were talking about as they discussed Canada's chances of winning gold in hockey.
Sidney Crosby's Golden Goal galvanized me to follow the NHL, and I began to realize athletes in other sports (like Tessa Virtue, Scott Moir and Whistler's own Ashleigh McIvor) were laudable in their own right. By London 2012, I was fully invested in Team Canada.
Without those two unforgettable weeks of competition in Vancouver and Whistler, the flame of sports fandom would never have ignited in my heart—and I would not be writing to you today as a sports journalist.
I'm not necessarily positioned to give a balanced appraisal of the Olympics as a social, political or economic entity. Although I recognize the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is hardly run by saints, I still bristle when another person denigrates the essence of the Games themselves. Those people are missing something, in my opinion.
For me, the issue hits close to home. It hits even closer for the athletes who bleed in pursuit of a medal, not to mention those athletes' loved ones who sacrifice immensely to help them rise up.
Paris 2024 delivered a bevy of highs and lows, as usual. Canadians basked in Summer McIntosh's four-medal swimming masterpiece, but we also cringed about a drone-spying scandal perpetrated by staffers of our women's soccer program. Some with Christian or conservative leanings decried the opening ceremony because they felt it mocked The Last Supper—while artistic director Thomas Jolly insists he was actually referencing the Greek god Dionysus.
Other publications have explored those angles, so I won't retread that ground here. Instead, I argue the Olympics' potential for controversy and opulence is decisively counterbalanced by its potential to inspire human beings.
Olympism: a spirit of striving
The Olympics reach more people from more walks of life than any other sporting event. An average of 30.6 million Americans watched the Paris Games on various NBCU platforms—more than even the behemoth NFL's premier Sunday Night Football telecast (21.4 million). Meanwhile, a total of 27 million Canadians tuned in on CBC, Sportsnet, TSN and RDS between July 26 and Aug. 11.
Nearly 70 per cent of our country's population engaged with the most recent Olympics at some point. Many of them (especially kids) were no doubt inspired to dream big.
Only a fraction of those individuals will reach the world level of any given sport, but the rest stand a chance to learn paramount lessons about hard work, perseverance and maturity in the face of life's hardship. While elite athletes aren't always the best people to look up to, they inevitably attract a demographic that may not be as interested in doctors, politicians or civil servants.
Furthermore, many Olympians have a lot to teach us regardless of how decorated they may or may not be.
Take for example my fellow Calgarian, Ingrid Wilm. She's a 26-year-old swimmer who placed sixth in the 100-metre backstroke final in Paris. I couldn't help but be charmed by Ms. Wilm's bubbly and authentic interviews, so I decided to read more about her.
It turns out Wilm fought through a lingering elbow injury and chronic financial trouble to qualify for the Olympics. Her parents are divorced and she describes her father as "not a very nice man." She's had to help pay bills since her 14th birthday, and her siblings united to fund her competition at the 2019 FISU Games.
Countless people struggle with broken families and/or financial instability. Wilm's testimony may resonate with some of them, for she managed to best those obstacles with a joyful outlook on life intact. This young lady oozed gratitude on the mic shortly after missing the biggest podium of her career, and her ability to do that is far more admirable than her trophy case could ever be.
The Olympics spotlight many other praiseworthy stories, too.
Brazil's Rebeca Andrade netted four medals in Paris despite three ACL tears earlier in life. Zeng Zhiying represented Chile in table tennis for the first time this July—at 58 years of age. If we turn back the clock, we'll find an underdog like Eddie the Eagle who threw the ultimate career Hail Mary… and put British ski jumping on the map.
We can all learn from these kinds of people, just as much (or even more so) than decorated icons like McIntosh, Simone Biles, Usain Bolt, etc.
Beloved Canadian broadcaster Scott Russell drove the point home in an interview with the Winnipeg Free Press: "I have a tremendous reverence for Olympic athletes and the Olympic movement in general. I really do think it’s one of the great hopes of the world. It continues to bring people together against the odds."
