Monday, August 18, 2008 Antalan: The Olympic Games By Roger P. Antalan Dateline IGaCoS
THE Olympic Games, an ancient athletic contest, started in Olympia, in the old district of Elis, a locality in Greece, in the year 776 B.C. It continued to be played every four years for 1200 years until the Romans gained power in Greece and proclaimed Christianity as religion. The Olympics was banned in 393 as a pagan practice by Theodosius 1, a Christian Roman emperor.
It was revived in 1896 as an international meeting held every four years in a different country. Right now, from August 8 to 24, the XXIX Olympiad, billed as Beijing 2008, is being staged in China. To show to the world that it is an emerging economic superpower, China has spent more than 40 billion dollars to prepare and run this greatest sports event of the year.
More than 10,000 athletes from 205 countries are competing in 53 sports disciplines for the coveted 302 gold medals. China, the host country, has of course the biggest delegation -- 669 strong. They want to beat the USA in the total haul of medals in their home turf. At this early stage, it looks like they are succeeding.
The Philippines sent a modest delegation of 15 athletes, with good reason. According to some sports analysts, most of our athletes do not have a Chinaman's chance of winning a gold medal. But the ball is round. A prize of 15 million pesos is waiting for the first Filipino gold medalist.
There is big money in winning Olympic medals. It is reported that Michael Phelps, the American swimming sensation, will get a 1 million dollar bonus from Speedo Swimwear if he breaks the record of Mark Spitz (7 golds) by winning eight gold medals.
It takes a lot of money to produce Olympic champions, for long training, nutritional and medical expenses as well as other Olympic-related activities. A few days ago, shooter Abhinav Bindra won the first gold ever for India. A wise guy commented: "India was poor before, now it is a rich country. While the Philippines was rich before, now it is a poor country."
Actually, there have been poor countries that have had Olympic champions. Someday, if not in Beijing, our country will break the barrier, through individual talents or skills. We have world record holders already, such as, Paeng Nepomuceno in bowling, Bata Reyes and others in billiards, Manny Pacquiao in professional boxing, to mention a few. Too bad their sports are not included in the Olympic competition.
Our country has produced the best in the arts and the theater with great artists like Lea Salonga, and singers and chorale groups who had come up as number one in world musical competition. We had Miss Universe and Miss International beauty queens in the persons of Margie Moran Floriendo, Gloria Diaz and Gemma Cruz Araneta.
We also excel in other areas such as the OFW contribution to other countries and being the texting capital of the world. Can we be proud of these? Unfortunately, we are gaining worldwide notoriety as one of the most corrupt nations in the world. That's a record we must break.
Whether we win the elusive gold or not, there is still the golden challenge in the participation at the Olympic Games. The Games' motto: "Higher, Stronger, Faster" is a simple but bold formula for the search of excellence.
Global competitiveness is the real name of the game. Some of our athletes in Beijing broke our own national records, and yet they did not qualify for the finals. We have to be at par or better than the best of the rest of the world. As Heywood Broun says: "The tragedy of life is not that man loses but that he almost wins."
The same daunting challenge - to be world class - holds true for all the rest of the Filipinos in the home front. Nowadays, we are part and parcel of the so-called global village. Whether we like it or not, we have to compete with all the other countries in the global market.
Filipinos love to compete, not only in sports. There are so many competitions and contests going on, from the traditional Spelling Bee, to Best Farmer of the Year, Best Exporter, Best Tourist Attraction, Best Cultural show, Outstanding LGU, and what-have-you. Time to graduate from being champions of the mini-olympics to become true and real world champions.
The poor, the masa, may not be aware of the Olympic standards, or that there is an Olympiad going on. The Beijing Filipino athletes may not bring home the beacon. Our national leaders may still be squabbling, unable to solve the serious ills besetting the country. Bertolt Brecht said: "The defeats and victories of the fellows at the top aren't always the defeat and victories of the fellows at the bottom."
It is an impossible dream, but there must be a way for the people to emerge as champions in their own right and in their areas of concern. We can dream, can't we?
