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BEIJING. CHINA |
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GAMES EDITION |
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OUT OF LEFT FIELD |
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FOR THE OLYMPIC GAMES
From left: The infamous "black power salute' disgraced the 1968 U.S. team; Jim Thorpe had to give back his 1912 gold medals; Johnny Weissmuller won three gold medals in 1924, but female Olympians are beating his record times today. |
Venal policies, politics
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As a public service to the multitude of TheColumnists.com loyalists, here is a primer to prepare you for the formidable task of following the biggest-ever Olympics in Beijing.
Let us start on a high note trumpeting the Olympic creed established by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the Frenchman who inaugurated the modern Olympic movement:
DeCoubertin said: “The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.”
We’ll consider the good Baron’s fine words as we tiptoe through some of the happenings that have dotted the Olympic landscape throughout history.
The modern games were patterned after the early Olympics which spanned 776 BC to the fifth century. An Australian historian, Tony Perrottet, wrote that the ancient Greeks “were vain and individualist” with “a very narrow definition of democracy” that allowed only “free born”--no slaves or foreigners--to compete at Olympia. Women were forbidden even to watch, depriving them of the exalted sight of men competing in the nude.
In the 1904 Games at St. Louis, the first finisher in the marathon, American Fred Lorz, was disqualified when it was learned he had come part of the way in a touring car. The second finisher, Tom Hicks, another American, was disqualified because he had been given periodic doses of strychnine by trainers driving alongside him in a car. The Cuban who led most of the way was felled by stomach cramps near the finish from having eaten too many stolen apples along the way.
In the 1908 Games at London, the British neglected to display the American flag at the opening ceremonies. The American team was dominated by Irish athletes and during the opening parade, the American flag bearer refused to dip the color while passing the king and queen. “This flag dips to no earthly king” precedent was set; the Americans accordingly are booed during opening parades because we are the only country not to dip our colors to the reigning monarchs. Italian Dorando Pietri staggered in first in the marathon, but was disqualified because officials (Arthur Conan Doyle may have been one of them) helped him across the finish line. American Johnny Hayes was declared the winner, though the British wouldn’t recognize him for decades.
In 1912 at Stockholm Jim Thorpe won the pentathlon and decathlon and then was stripped of his gold medals because he was found to have received money for playing organized baseball. A man who fought against returning the medals to him in the ensuing years was Olympic panjandrum Avery Brundage, who had finished sixth in the pentathlon and 12th in the decathlon behind Thorpe.
In 1924 at Paris Johnny (Tarzan) Weissmuller won three swimming gold medals. His times in those events would find him not half-way across the length of the pool if he raced against winning women swimmers today.
In 1936 at Berlin, Brundage fought off attempts to boycott the Olympics because of Adolf Hitler’s anti-semitism. Brundage made a tour of Germany and, accompanied all the way by German officials, declared there was no anti-semitism in Germany. He branded the calls for a boycott a Jewish plot. Greta Bergmann, a Jew, Germany’s best woman high jumper, was denied a place on the team. Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller, the only Jews on the U.S. track team, were dropped from the 4 by 100 relay team because of a trumped up-story by the American coaches (with Brundage’s backing) that the Americans had to field a stronger squad because Germany would unveil some secret runners in the relay.
In 1952 at Helsinki, the Soviets sent a team for the first time and for the next three decades the Olympics were as much a battleground between the two cold war countries as a sports competition.
In 1968 in Mexico City, the government slaughtered hundreds of protestors in a main square a few days before the Olympics but this was kept secret from the world (and supposed bird-dog reporters, me included) until after the Games. Tommie Smith and John Carlos delivered a black-power salute on the victors’ stand to protest discrimination in the United Sates and were banned and sent home by outraged Olympic officials.The threat of a boycott from African nations forced Brundage to disinvite racist South Africa.
One of the worst tragedies occurred in 1972 at Munich. Terrorists commanded the Games, taking Israeli athletes and coaches hostage. When a firefight at the airport was ended, 11 Israelis, five terrorists and a German cop were killed. The U.S. lost a basketball gold medal for the first time due to inept play and confused officials who lost control of the game, enabling the Soviets to win, setting off “we wuz robbed” cries across the United States.
In 1976 at Montreal the Canadian government took a financial bath and was paying off debts decades afterward.
In 1980 the United States boycotted the Soviet Games in Moscow and in 1984 the Soviets boycotted the U.S. Games in Los Angeles.
In 1988 at Seoul Ben Johnson of Canada won the 100-meter dash and was disqualified for taking illegal drugs.
In 2004 in Athens, the Americans lost in basketball again though now playing professionals. The Iranians pulled their star judo man from the competition because he was scheduled to meet an Israeli in the first round. People wondered what the new sports--synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics--have to do with the Olympic motto of Citius, Altius, Fortius (farther, higher, stronger).
In 2008, on the way to these Games in Beijing, the Chinese government has jailed critics, denied visas and threatened news organizations that negative coverage could jeopardize their chance to cover the Games.
“The important thing is not to win,” the good Baron said, “but to take part…….”
©2008 by Stan Isaacs. The Stan Isaacs caricature is ©2001 by Jim Hummel. This column first posted Aug. 4, 2008.
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