“In the spirit of the Olympic Games.” I saw this phrase pop up again and again in relation to the disqualification of Ezekiel Kemboi in the Olympic Men’s steeple chase that gave France a medal. For the United States, the “spirit of the Olympic Games” might mean something just a little bit different.
The Summer Olympics happen every four years. This seems like a long time to be waiting for a single event, but it is actually just enough time for the world to get excited for the Games again from the last competition. It just so happens that the United States’ election cycle is also in time segments of four years that align exactly with the pattern of the Summer Olympics. Being a track athlete, I love the Summer Games. I find something deeper in the sport rather than simply a matter of national pride, but somehow, I find an awe around the winter games that cannot be matched.
The ultimate question that defines the Olympics: Which season is better? Track is summer is inspiring and exciting, but the Winter Games are just down right amazing. Sometimes I start to think that maybe the Winter Games are more to my liking than the summer games. That is, until I remember the Summer Games’ affect on politics.
This summer, the world filled with Politics. There is the fiasco about the Sanders supporters only supporting Bernie with refusal to support anyone else. Trump made so many racist, bigoted, virulent, misogynistic and simply mean statements that I have completely lost track. Hillary is constantly being attacked for any reason that can possibly be imagined.
There has been so much controversy and political rhetoric that to be totally and brutally honest, I simply got tired of it all. Then the Olympics started. I could finally turn on the television and not hear about the latest political trend. Maybe the real “Spirit of the Olympic Games” for the United States comes from the one piece of Unity that this country has seen for the last six to eight months because of political rivalry. The Olympic Games, if nothing else, represent one thing: a much needed breather from politics. Maybe, just maybe, the country is now ready to go back to politics without so much vehement rage in order to actually get something done.
