08 Aug 2008 |
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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'!
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