Without a doubt, the Olympic Games are the world's foremost sports competition. But also with more than 200 nations taking part in the games, Olympics are arguably the greatest and most politically inclusive international event. United Nations only recognizes 195 countries worldwide but 205 nations are competing in Rio 2016 games at the moment. Countries without a UN status like Kosovo or even dependent territories like Puerto Rico count as Olympic Nations and are allowed to participate in the games.

Also, you don't have to have a national status to be an Olympic athlete. This year for the first time athletes with a refugee status were able to compete as part of the Refugee Olympic Team. They represented those stuck between the borders. There are also Independent Olympic athletes. These athletes compete as independents usually because of political transitions, international sanctions or suspensions of National Olympic Committees which prevent them from representing their nation in the Olympics. It is more of ompulsory situation than a preference. I don't know any case of an athlete choosing to compete as an independent to make a political statement as in “I don't want to represent any country; I want to represent myself at the biggest sporting event in the world."

Honestly why does nationality matter so much? Why do these great sport events become a competition between nations instead of a competition between athletes? Why is an athlete more motivated by national pride than personal achievement? Why do we, the spectators, get so excited for people we don't know at all but happen to carry the same passport?

First of all, nationality matter so much to people because we live in a nation-state. From the day we were born, the education system taught us how to be good citizens before teaching us how to be good humans. If you weren't a patriot, you were not a good person. This national identity had to be imposed upon us so that we wouldn't start to question certain things- like serving in the military. And a sports event is the best way to show how much you love your country.

Nationalism and sports are often intertwined, as sports provide a venue for symbolic competition between nations. In the modern era, invading another country is not acceptable and it is condemned by the international arena. Unlike the Middle Ages, wars are not the norm anymore. But the competition between nations is not over and will never be. Therefore, sporting events become the battlegrounds and athletes become the warriors. In such big international events like the Olympics, the fight becomes more intense because you have more countries to show off to. And sporting events are different from other international contests or competitions because physical fitness and endurance of the individuals were always related to the power of the nation especially by fascist regimes.

As the authoritarian regimes were on the rise in Europe in 1930's, leaders were using sports, as a tool to demonstrate the “success" of their regimes and the power of their nation to the rest of Europe and to the world. For example, when Nazi Germany hosted the 1936 Olympics, they used the Games to display Aryan superiority. And as you can imagine, Germany was the most successful nation at that Games, which did much to support their allegations of Aryan supremacy. Of course, this success was not related to the Aryan race. (African-American Jesse Owens won four gold medals, and Hungarian Jew Ibolya Csák won one gold medal at the 1936 games). Team Germany was successful at the time because they had the motivation to show the world they were the greatest nation.(Berg, 2014)

Without a doubt, this political motivation boosted the performances of German athletes in 1936. Patriotism can give athletes a sense of purpose beyond personal achievement. Aminata Diouf, a track and field athlete from Senegal explains this “higher purpose."

"I feel like an ambassador, who is very proud. It is this motivation that makes you want to train at two hundred percent of your abilities. The goal is to satisfy an entire nation," she says.(Voice of America, 2009)

When you are competing for a nation, you are not only representing yourself but also the millions watching you in your country. Athletes from struggling countries that don't get much attention have a motivation to bring international attention by competing in the Olympics. They want to show the world what people from that country are capable of doing. Also when hundreds of people that you don't even know come from kilometers away to chant for you, of course, you will feel more motivated.

Seriously though, hundreds of people, some who are not even into sports, travel the world to support the people they have never even met. Thousands of people share the same emotions with the athletes when they are watching the game on TV. They get excited and happy or cry and rage… Benedict Anderson explained this feature of nationalism by coining the term “imagined community." "A nation is a group of people that imagines itself to be part of a common family, even though most of the members do not know each other personally (and might not like each other if they did). Yet they have the sense of being tied together, to the extent that when one member of the group succeeds (or fails) it actually affects how other members who don't even know them feel. You feel the nationhood with the other members of your nation when your "imagined community" participates in a larger event such as the Olympic Games."(Walt, 2012)

Throughout this article I explained how internationalism strengthens national spirit at the Olympics. The history of the Olympic Games is full of examples of refused handshakes, indignities, boycotts and even murders (Munich 1972) because of political disputes between countries. But I don't want to recount all these specific incidents. I just want to talk about one photo while ending my article. For me, the most iconic photo of the Rio Olympics. I'm talking about the selfie of the gymnasts Lee Eun-ju of South Korea and Hong Un-jong of North Korea. These two athletes are not just opponents but supposed to be enemies according to their nation states. Since the Korean War, the relationship between those countries has been very hostile. If there is a place to bring those “enemies" together, it would be the Olympics. North and South Korean gymnasts have shown the world a moment of unity, in the form of a selfie at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The genuine smile on their faces warmed everyone's hearts.

Such international sporting events inevitably strengthen the national spirit. But that spirit doesn't have to cause hostility between athletes from different nations. The national spirit should color up the competitions not overshadow them.