With the start of the 2012 Olympics tonight the world can enjoy the greatest international venue for sports competition. Unfortunately, these games begin with a missed opportunity by the International Olympic Committee to make a meaningful statement about the spirit of the games.
“Through the Olympic spirit, we can instill brotherhood, respect, fair play, gender equality and even combat doping,” said IOC President Jacques Rogge three years ago. Yet the IOC has stubbornly refused to publicly acknowledge at these games the most significant anniversary in Olympic history.
Forty years ago, during the 1972 Olympic games in Munich, Germany, the Palestinian terrorist group Black September kidnapped and murdered 11 Israeli athletes and officials and one West German police officer. The very ideal of the Olympics was shattered by subversive nihilists.
Anyone old enough will never forget watching ABC’s Jim McKay switch from being a sports reporter to describing what he would call, “the longest and most terrible day in the history of the Olympic games.”
The widows of two of the men murdered have been pushing for a moment of silence during the opening ceremonies tonight. It would be a simple yet powerful acknowledgement of the anniversary of the tragedy.
However, the IOC refuses, citing protocol.
“We feel that the opening ceremony is an atmosphere that is not fit to remember such a tragic incident,” Rogge said.
Rogge has already held a small ceremony in the Olympic village marking the anniversary, and the IOC will honor the terror victims at a private event on Aug. 6. But it’s difficult to understand why Olympic officials are so resistant to a more significant public display.
The best case scenario is that they are just being stubborn. The worst is that they are worried about a backlash from countries that do not recognize Israel’s right to exist. It’s worth noting that during a memorial ceremony at the 1972 games honoring the victims, the IOC allowed ten countries to not fly their flags at half staff as all other countries did.
Those of us watching tonight, however, will get a chance to participate in our own memorial. NBC anchor Bob Costas says the network will observe a minute of silence when the Israeli team enters Olympic Stadium.
Additionally, the widows have asked those in the stadium to stand in silence when Rogge speaks during tonight’s ceremony.
During the Olympic Games we are deluged with “we-are-the-world” platitudes. We are told that the spirit of international competition can set an example for how people from varied ethnic, religious and political backgrounds can co-exist.
The Olympic Creed reads, “The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win, but to take part, just as the most important thing is life is not the triumph, but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered, but to have fought well.”
The creed suggests that the games and the participants aspire to a higher calling. Sadly, when the IOC had an opportunity on this 40th anniversary of Munich to demonstrate that those words have meaning, it failed, citing its own bureaucracy.