So here we are again. Another four years have rolled round
since Athens in 2004, and once more, the whole world will be focused on Beijing
for the next two weeks or so, starting from August 8. It'll be a period when
all the various quarrels that divide humanity will be set aside as we all
celebrate the spirit of sportsmanlike competition. Six billion human beings
will marvel at feats of endeavour as disciplined athletes who have trained hard
and long run faster, jump higher, shoot straighter as they compete for the
ultimate glory. Six billion human beings will celebrate with the heroes as they
savour their victory and share the anguish of the losers as they go down to
defeat.
Well, I say 'six billion' - but really, it'll be five
billion, nine hundred and ninety nine million, nine hundred and ninety nine
thousand, nine hundred and ninety nine - as I, Shoko Loko Bangoshe, shall be
taking a decided lack of interest in the Games, as I have done for several
years now. In fact, my reaction to the Olympic Games can be summed up in one
word: 'Mptcheeeeeewww'!
Why this reaction? Well first of all, I believe that a large
number of sports are sports in which many nations (including Nigeria) are
already at a disadvantage. This is because either the nation does not have the
money to buy the equipment for these kinds of sports, or the sports are simply not practiced widely enough for there
to be any interest in training people for them. Examples of such sports are
diving, archery, gymnastics, canoeing, equestrian sports, sailing shooting, and
that most notorious of all sports - synchronized swimming.
How did these very strange sounding sports get on the roster
of events? Well, according to the Chapter 5 of the Olympic Charter,
a sport must have a recognised International Federation governing it before it
the International Olympics Committee will consider including it in the list of
sports competed at in the Olympics. It looks like there are other criteria that
are used, according to table C on page 5 of this document. Specifically, a sport must be
practised by men in 75 countries on four continents and by women in 40
countries in three continents. So, it looks like it's down to money again - not
only were the proponents of these sports rich enough to set up International
Federations to codify the standards for these sports, they also had the
resources to promote competitions of these sports in other places.
This also means that it is unlikely that Nigerian indigenous
sports like oware (or opon ayo in Yoruba), gidigbo (local
wrestling) or sharo (a sport involving flogging) are unlikely to ever
become Olympic sports. This is because not only does Nigeria not have the money
to promote them, but Nigerian sports adminstration is so bad that even if it
was asked to come up with rules for the sport of sleeping, it would be unable
to do so. So as usual, Nigeria is reduced to existing at the margins of the
sporting competition, fielding our usual contingent for boxing, athletics and
soccer and vainly hoping for a repeat of the two gold medals in 1996.
Now I don't begrudge the rich nations the ego-massage that
they enjoy every four years - they've worked hard to popularise their sports
all the way into the Olympic Games, so if they want to carry all the gold
medals in the world, I believe that they should feel free to do so. However, I
can't understand why the Nigerian team has to be the foil, the supporting cast,
the backdrop to this ego-massaging. Nobody should feed me that nonsense about
the taking part that matters, not the winning - I think we should not be
wasting our time if we don't have a realistic chance of coming away with a
massive medal haul. Better to set up our own African Olympics where we can cart
off medals in sports such as balancing buckets on heads without using hands or
climbing up and down several flights of stairs (as we often do when there is no
electricity).
The other reason why I'm not interested in the Olympics is
because I've become very cynical of victories, especially in the area of
athletics. Time was when I was fascinated by sprint and middle distance races;
I would watch in fascination as Ed Moses came round the bend in the lead in the
400 metre hurdles, or Javier Sotomayor would vault over ever increasing heights
in the the high jump.
But then came Ben Johnson - and my faith in the fairness of
Olympic competition was badly shattered. It has never recovered since - especially
not after the revelations regarding Tim Montgomery and Marion Jones. These
days, even if I hear that someone has run 9.5 seconds in the 100 metre race,
I'm more inclined to raise a skeptical eyebrow and ask what cocktail of drugs
he was using, and how well he had hidden them.
In fact, I think that those trying to stop the usage of
drugs in sport are fighting a losing battle. The day is not far off when it
will be possible to give athletes sporting advantages through less obvious
means, like gene therapy over several years to get bigger muscles and lungs.
Then what will the International Olympic Committee do? Perhaps it should start
preparing for that day by setting a new Olympic Games apart from the Summer and
Winter Olympics - the Steroid Olympics, where you can dose yourself up to your
hearts content. At least, we the spectators can now focus purely on
entertainment as human beings run faster than sports cars and long jumpers fly
in the air for a kilometre before landing.
In the meantime, I shall regard the whole razzmatazz with an
air of disdain - and occasionally, when I cannot contain my disgust, I shall
emit a well timed 'mptcheeeeeewww'!
Please do not give up. This a celebration of humanity and it is in circumsatnces like this that disorganised nations like Nigeria stick out like sore thumb. On this eight day of the eight month of the eight year of the new century, i am glad to be alive to watch men and nations live up to the injunction that they were really created in the image of God and are better than some social animals to boot.:D:D:D:D:D:D
You feel bad because you are looking at the Olympics from the Nigerian perspective. Look at the flag bearer of the US contingent. He would have been murdered buy the Sudanese Hitler reincarnate Bashir, if not that he fled to the land of the free. Look at the Chinese contingent which was co led by a nine year old wh survived the Sichuan earthquake:D:D:D:D
Men humanity sans Nigeria is still alive and vibrant. Viva the human race:D
Viva the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
Come on, Madam Akulu - that's the fiction that the big nations put about so that nations like Nigeria and Togo will feel overjoyed with their miserable bronze while they (the big nations) are carting off gold medal after gold medal!
well-thought-out words indeed and i am seriously inclined to agreeing with the points u raised...especially about the steriod olympics. these times are probably just around the corner.
i hadnt ever thot of it your way, but i do agree that for some time now, the olympics havent held that much fascination for me.
@ akuluonu
celebration of human achievement is all well and good, but as shoko pointed out, where is the level-playing-field?
I do think you have a point with the steroid bit however, I don't agree totally with the whole article. The sports that have made it to the olympics were promoted by people who have interests in them. We may be disadvantaged, but whose fault? 'Ain't nobody but us stopping us'! When Nigeria is ready to participate in olympic games, the world will create a space for us (or at least then we can fight for our space). For now, let those who are prepared take centre stage!
You speak about traditional wrestling? Assuming Nigeria even managed (by hook or crook) to get that in the olympic sports chart, Nigeria may still not harvest the much hoped for gold medals, why? :arrow:Nigerian wrestlers will be wrestling for other countries who can afford them? In my opinion, olympics for many nations is not just about sports, it's also about nations asserting the superiority of their talents. (Nigeria definitely stands among nations that have sports talents, unfortunately...)
Personally, I don't miss any olympic opening ceremony and I have just witnessed Beijing at her utmost however, my interest in any olympic game is sustained only if Nigeria is participating in many events, sadly...I won't be that glued to my tv this time.
That said, I'm off to reminisce on the beijing olympic opening ceremony event...it was CAPTIVATING, no it was BREATH-TAKING, oh no it was MAGNIFICENT, no it was...there's simply no English word for it...
恭喜恭喜恭喜你呀 恭喜恭喜恭喜你 China! (for those who can speak chinese :wink:)
(TKJ in a reminiscing mode and also pondering when Nigeria will even get the chance to host at least half of an olympics...mptcheeeeeewww)
I usually deliberately tune out the politics that surround the Olympics and just enjoy it for the spectacle it always is. So Bush can heckle till he is blue in the face or people like Shoko can mptcheeeewwww till they are frothing at the lips, that's all by the way.
I am more impressed by the celebration of humanity it is ("ONE WORLD ONE DREAM), the torch relays, the opening ceremonies (the chinese have overdone themselves this year) the amazing athletes in performance etc, etc. Yeah I am mostly interested in the more common sports and the ones in which Nigerians participate but I do not compare our medal haul to that of America, Russia or GB. The Olympics make me feel good and bottle it up for less cheery moons.
We actually agree with each other. See where I say this:
I don't begrudge the rich nations the ego-massage that they enjoy every four years - they've worked hard to popularise their sports all the way into the Olympic Games, so if they want to carry all the gold medals in the world, I believe that they should feel free to do so.
and this:
This also means that it is unlikely that Nigerian indigenous sports like oware (or opon ayo in Yoruba), gidigbo (local wrestling) or sharo (a sport involving flogging) are unlikely to ever become Olympic sports. This is because not only does Nigeria not have the money to promote them, but Nigerian sports adminstration is so bad that even if it was asked to come up with rules for the sport of sleeping, it would be unable to do so.
So yes - the current situation is partly our fault, but that does not mean I have to like it now, abi?
Mulan,
Click on this to hear my response to your last comment. :lol:
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Posted by Robot| 08.08.2008 06:26