The Olympic Games are an institution like no other. They are globally followed, their five-ring logo as unmistakable as McDonald's' Golden Arches or the Hollywood Sign. That logo, and the Games themselves, have become truly unforgettable.
But what seems very often forgotten about them now is one very key point: they are not just about sport. They have never been. Even the Ancient Greeks held them for more than just physical competition. They are an unmissable chance for all humanity to unite, however briefly, in mutual solidarity and compassion, and to collectively emphasize just how far the human spirit can go. That's not cheesy, motivational-speaker talk either. I daresay it is true.
The Olympics also give every competitor a chance to prove their worth, now and forever, before the whole world. Almost every Games, Summer or Winter, has seen one victorious underdog or marginalized competitor. Think African American Jesse Owens in 1936 in Hitler's Berlin. 14-year-old Nadia Comaneci earning the first ever Olympic gymnastics 10/10 in Montreal. Cathy Freeman winning that 400 metres for Indigenous (and non-Indigenous) Australians in Sydney (and after lighting the cauldron, no less). Steven Bradbury's fellow finalists all crashing around him in Salt Lake City. The Jamaican bobsled team and Eddie the Eagle in Calgary in 1988. And, of course, Team USA pulling off the Miracle on Ice over the Soviet Union in Lake Placid in 1980. I rest my case.
Sport can be great fun, and it's definitely an effective platform for representing one's nation, and even international diplomacy. But while we can all cheer our teams on, we must avoid reaching the point where we can't see the forest for the trees. There would be nothing more superficial than that. Especially compared to everything represented in those five rings.
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