Opening a new vista

Sport can retain its sanctity only if the twin evils of drugs and corruption, both result of excessive commercialism, are destroyed by a conscious understanding of the problems. What better place to start the cleansing process than the Olympiad starting today at Sydney, argues S. THYAGARAJAN.

IS OLYMPISM hurtling towards decay? Or is it reflection of the turbulence humanity is confronting now, perhaps helplessly? Rhetorical though these posers may be, it will be churlish to dismiss them as irrelevant, or even irreverent. Clear as crystal is the fact that the concept of Olympism as crafted by Baron Pierre de Coubertin stands distorted today, if not destroyed altogether.

Indisputably, such a line of discussion is laced in a fabric of cynicism, especially when the first Olympiad of this millennium is all set to start in Sydney today. It is agreed that nothing can douse the spirit of triumph which sport engenders in a festival of youth. Disturbing however is the note of superficiality which has replaced genuine effort to excel. The pleasure of winning is more or less extinguished by the desire to win at all cost.

It is difficult to wrench from a mood of anguish while examining the dynamics governing Olympic Games in the last 25 years. Growth, in every sphere, has been extraordinary. From a mere 13 countries at the inaugural venture in 1896 at Athens, the number crossed a century in 1968 at Mexico, and stands near the 200 mark now, thanks to the disintegration of the socialist countries, Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia. Everything, almost everything, has expanded - the number of disciplines, competitors from a mere 300 in 1896 to 15,000 now, and sponsors. Gigantism is a norm than a consequence to abnormal commercial exploitation of the Olympics label.

No Olympiad in recent memory has been preceded by such negative developments as Sydney-2000. Between Atlanta, the last of the previous century and now, the minus factors have left many wondering whether sport and its governance are pure as is made out to be. People believed sport symbolised truth, integrity and sincerity, an instrument to cut new dimensions, and a means to spreading the fragrance of human understanding and love. Today without fear of contradiction it can be stated that faith has been diluted to the point of denegrating sport as a mode for cheats to corner glory and wealth.

Threat to sport emanates not merely from corrupt officials as much as performance enhancing drugs. This should not be construed a new phenomenon. Doping has been part and parcel of sport for centuries. Astonishing is its proliferation in recent times, at least in the last decade or so. Steroids, testestrone, nandrolone, and what not, have a fatal attraction to competitors more than speed, skill and style. Conquest by hook or crook rules the psyche. Every effort is being made to escape the net than avoiding dope altogether.

The penalty imposed on Ben Johnson after the Seoul Olympiad in 1988 was warning enough. But subsequent events proved it was no deterrent. A majority of the Olympic disciplines are tainted by dope. From Butch Reynolds to Linaford Christie down to Javier Sotomayer to Marlene Ottey and some of the finest specimen in aquatics came under a cloud. Though some have been re-instated doubt that no high level performer is without it, in some form or the other, persists. Can there be anything more negative to growth of sport?

From the standpoint of IOC, which itself is not beyond reproach for the way officials handled, rather mishandled the commercialisation, fighting doping is a war, a relentless one at that, to identify cheats. The testing for EPO (Erythropoietin) - a stimulant to blood cells to help the competitor acquire more than normal capacity for long distance events like cycling, swimming, and rowing - has caused alarm all round. The panic reaction of China, which withdrew as many as 40 competitors from the squad to Sydney, is indicative of the caution weighing in with the national Olympic committees.

The Chinese at least have been honest in their approach to the problem, fearing a backlash if some were found positive at a time when Beijing is making a serious bid for the 2008 Games. About 30 Chinese swimmers have had the mortification of being caught for the use of drugs. Yuan Yuan, one of the swimmers was detained at the Perth Airport for smuggling in 13 vials of human growth harmone, steroids, etc. during the last World Championships in 1998. It must be mentioned here that Beijing missed out to Sydney by a whisker at Monte Carlo in 1993.

If doping is a menace to development then corruption at high places is more lethal to destroying the fragile fabric of Olympism. That the bids for Sydney and Salt Lake City were tainted by bribery scandal is no tribute to the transparency with which the IOC is managing its mandate. Some measures came about as a damage control but they are far too to cover up the loopholes. Samaranch and his entourage in Sydney have no doubt adopted a low profile and conservative life style but these have come about mainly out of compulsion to proving their austerity drive than by conviction.

Olympism which denotes the efficacy of sport is not a social evolution, or a political thought, or an ideology but it lies primarily in an individual as a natural gift that surpasses colour, race or religion. Else, it would have been impossible for a Namibian or Jamaican challenge the best trained and coached American, or a Surinamese like, Antony Nesty, humbling the might of America's, Matt Biondi in 100 metres butterfly at Seoul with an Olympic record at 53.00 in 1988, or a natural runner like John Aki-bua of Uganda outpace and outmanoeuvre the favourite and scientifically trained David Hemery in 400 metres hurdles at Munich in 1972.

Sport, admittedly, is a great leveller when its purity remains unsullied by inducements. Sydney-2000 is set to unfold a brave new world to competitors who have to be convinced that there is no short cut to triumph. If there is one it is likely to be ephemeral, as Ben Johnson realised in 1988.

Quite a few might have escaped the dragnet, or evolved an equally scientific method to beat the detection to doping, as the inhuman East German doctors did in the early Seventies to ``create'' a Kornelia Ender or a Kristin Otto, but sport has shown the strength to survive such monsters.

Even as one visualises an eventful fortnight for men and women thirsting to conquer new frontiers of excellence there is a haunting thought how much of it is going to be genuine. There is no alternative to purifying the elements of Olympism if sport is to get back its exalted status than making it a sanctimonius humbug.

S. THYAGARAJAN

now in Sydney

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