The Olympics: A Crazy Dream The place is Paris. The year is 1892. A 28 year old Frenchman by the name of Pierre de Coubertin prepares to take the podium at a conference attended by a group of aristocrats. Coubertin, a man who was born into a privileged family, hadn t accomplished much as this point in his life. In fact, compared to his peers, he was a bit of a misfit. But on this day he had a radical idea he believed could change the world and he was excited to share it. Coubertin tells the audience that railways, the telegraph, the telephone and advances in science have done more for world peace than any treaty ever signed. He then tells them that he believes bringing people together in sport, to share in a modern day Olympics, can do more for world peace than anything ever done before. Some of the aristocrats believe the idea of grown men running around in gym shorts leading to a peace-loving society is a preposterous proposition, but de Coubertin is able to convince enough influential people to put the dream in motion. In 1894, he founded the International Olympic committee, and two years later in Athens, Greece, the first modern-day Olympic Games are successfully held. Today, more than one hundred years after delivering his Paris speech, the brilliance of Pierre de Coubertin s wild idea goes without question. The Olympic games still remain one of the greatest means of uniting nations and promoting peace ever devised.
The Olympics: What Would You Have Done? In 1924, Bill Havens was considered the best rower in the world. In the up-coming Olympics in Paris, he was the favourite to win the gold in two canoeing events. A few months before his American team was to leave, Havens learned that his wife was going to give birth to their first child at approximately the same time that the Olympics would be taking place. After much debate, Bill Havens decided he would give up his Olympic dream to be with his wife. Four days after the Paris Games were over, on August 1, 1924, Frank Havens was born. For many years afterward, Bill Havens secretly wondered if he should have gone to the Games. Then, 28 years later, it was confirmed that he had made the right choice, for in the summer of 1952 he received a telegram from Helsinki, Finland, the site of the Olympics. Dear Dad, Thanks for waiting around for me to get born in 1924. I m coming home with the gold medal you should have won. It was signed, Your loving son, Frank. Frank Havens had just won the gold medal in the 10,000-meter canoeing event.
The Olympics: Olga s Date With Nixon In 1972, much of the world wasn t particularly fond of Russia s politics and therefore, those watching the Olympics that year had little reason to fall in love with an athlete from that country. But when the world saw Olga Korbut, a 74-pound, 17-year-old Russian gymnast with pigtails and a smile that could melt a glacier, no one could resist. As the little dynamo danced and leaped across the mat, the audience of the Munich Olympics looked on with jaws agape. When she finished her routine, the crowd rose to its feet and roared its approval. The judges were equally impressed. News of the flamboyant gymnast quickly spread worldwide and people eagerly awaited her performance in the individual apparatus events a few days later. Again, she did not disappoint, winning two gold and a silver medal. But the Games weren t Olga s proudest moment. In 1973, after the Munich Games, I was invited to the White House to meet President Nixon, she said. He told me that my performance in Munich did more for reducing the tension during the Cold War between our two countries than the embassies were able to do in five years. Surely Pierre de Coubertin, the man who once had a crazy dream, about the modern Olympics was looking down from the heavens and smiling proudly.
The Olympics: Out-Jumping Prejudice While the Olympics are often noted as the place where records are broken, it is also the site where many unexpected and lasting friendships are forged. One great example dates back to the 1936 Games in Berlin. With two gold medals already in hand, the great Jesse Owens had fouled twice in the long-jump qualification round. One more foul would disqualify him from competition in the event. Such pressure is common at the Olympic games. But this was possibly one of the most intense moments faced in sport for Owens, a black American, wasn t just competing for himself and his country. He was competing for a far greater cause. Adolph Hitler, in attendance at the Games, had openly campaigned that blacks and Jews were inferior to the German-Aryan race and that these Olympic games would be the proving ground for his belief. As Hitler looked on, German champion Luz Long approached Owens and did a most unexpected thing. He graciously suggested placing a towel a foot in front of the foul line so the American would have a clear take-off point. The German s assistance proved just the trick. Owens successfully completed the jump and went on to win the third of his four gold medals. Long would finish in second place. Once Owens victory was announced, Long was the first to congratulate the American and together they walked arm-in-arm directly in front of Hitler s box certainly not winning Long any points with the Fuehrer. After the Games, Owens and Long corresponded regularly. Up until his death, Owens would speak often about his German friend s act of sportsmanship and self-sacrifice. In the ultra competitive world we live in today is it possible to sometimes see competitors as worthy of help. In this instance all sides were the winners; the athletes, the sport and the universal good nature of fair play.
The Olympics: The Magic Bolt With a career total of two gold, two silver and two bronze Olympic medals, Italian bobsled driver Eugenio Monti is considered one of the greatest his sport has ever seen. But in the winter of 1964, he proved to be much more than an incredible driver in a gesture that has done more for international good will than any politically motivated diplomatic foray. After finishing a run in the two-man bobsled competition during the Innsbruck Games, Monti received word that at the top of the hill the renowned team from Britain, led by driver Tony Nash, was going to be pulled from the event. A key bolt on the rear axle of their sled had broken during an earlier run and they would be unable to compete. Immediately, Monti began removing the bolt from the rear axle of his sled and sent it up the hill to the British team. With Monti s bolt in place, Nash and the British sled raced down the track with great speed and eventually won the gold medal. Monti s Italian sled finished the competition in third place. Afterward, many people seemed surprised by Monti s selfless act and said that his generosity led to Britain s victory. But Monti deflected all praise. Tony Nash did not win because I gave him a bolt. Tony Nash won because he was the best driver. For his act of goodwill, Monti was awarded the De Coubertin Medal for sportsmanship.