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obtain a British passport and is
scheduled to run on the British
team. Anti-South African groups
are upset at this development and
·are demanding that young Zola
publicly denounce the country of
hcr birth as a price for being able to
run in Los Angeles.
In perhaps the most unusual
development, representatives from
the Palestinian Liberation Organi–
zation (PLO) have been pushing
for permission to field a team.
rt
is
unlikely that the IOC will accede,
citing the requirement of "territo–
rial extent" for representation.
On it goes, cont roversy after
controversy.
Nationalism and " Art ificial "
Athlet es
Nationalism and the drive for the
accumulation of team medals have
all but overwhelmed the basic
intent of the modern Olympics as
cxpressed by its founder, the
Frenchman Baron de Coubertin,
who said in 1908 : "The most
important thing in the Olympic
Games is not to win but to take
part. ... The essential thing is not
to have conquered but to have
fought well."
Combating the divisive spirit of
nationalism has almost been given
up as a lost cause. Says Lord Ki l–
lanin, IOC president from 1972 to
1980:
" 1 am opposed to nationalism
and 1 would be happier if nat ional
a nthems were not used at the
Games, but 1 realize that my view
is not tbat of the majority. There is
no doubt that sorne of the larger
powers wish to retain the present
meda! ceremony and many of the
newer nations, although it may be
sorne years before their anthem is
played or national ftag raised, eag–
erly await their day"
(The Olyrnpic
Carnes, 1984,
page 20) .
Looking back on the progress of
the Games, Lord Killanin also
believes "it may have been a mis–
take" to introduce team games
(such as team handbaJI, volleyball
and basketball) since these empha–
sizc nat ional rather than individual
accomplishments.
The insatiable "quest for the
gold" has g ravely impacted individ–
ual etforts as well, whether done in
the service of a count ry or not.
6
Olympic officia ls decry the
alarming spread in the use of ana–
bolic steroids, by which muscle
bulk can be increased rapidly and
to an unnatural degree. The IOC
promises strict computerized detec–
tion measures in Los Angeles.
The problem of drugs affects
countries in both the East and
West. American hurdles champion
Edwin Moses said in 1983 that at
least 50 percent of America's
Olympic athletes take illegal drugs.
' 'As a track-and-field athlete who
doesn't use drugs," remarked
Moses, " 1 now consider myself to
be in the minority."
The han on steroids has led to
the search for less traceable sub–
stances. One such substance is a
human growth hormone, a potent
"strength juice" derived from the
pituitary glands of cadavers and
priced at US$500 for a three-week
supply.
Witb many events now open to
female athletes, the IOC and vari–
ous international sports federations
have been compelled to introduce
femin inity tests to make certain
that no men or so-called superfe–
males (those having an extra "X"
chromosome) unfairly compete
agai nst normal females. Many
women athletes understandably
have recoiled against having to have
a "certificate of femininity" in
order to participate.
Lord Killanin is blunt about the
drug abuse prevalent in international
competition.
" lf
scientists are going
to create 'artificial' athletes," he
says, "to compete in the Olympic
Games or any international sport,
then the sooner the international
competitions are ended the better.
Sport is about the attainment of the
complete man or woman, physically
and mentally, by natural, and not
art ificial , means"
(The 0/ympic
Carnes, 1984,
page 22).
Part of This World
One observer, viewing the prob–
lems of staging this year's events in
Los Angeles, remarked: " 1 thought
the Olympic Games were supposed
to be a break from the problems of
the world. They're not."
Neither should tbey be ex–
pected to be. The Olympic Games
unfortunately reftect not the ideal
of universal friendship and frater-
nity but rather the stark reality–
in microcosm-of the rivalries and
hatreds among the nations of the
world.
Since the world is divided into
competing nationalisms, ideologies
a nd religions- divided, in fact,
against itsel f- we s hould not
expect that the greatest athletic
festival the world has to offer
should be any ditferent.
Not all competition is wrong, as
editor in chief Herbert W . Arm–
strong explains in bis "Personal."
However, this world and all of its
institutions, including its athletics,
have absorbed the form of competi–
tion espoused by Satan the devil,
the invisible ruler of this world–
competition based upon selfishness,
on hostility and, if need be, harm to
one's opponent, in order to
get
ahead at another's expense.
As a result, the international sys–
tem of this world is riven with such
evil results as "hatred, contentions,
jealousies ... selfish ambitions, dis-
sensions ..." (Gal. 5:20, Revised
Authorized Yersion).
Olympics founder Baron de Cou–
bertin, a very wise man, realized
that the future of the Olympic
Games could go in either of two
directions. He believed that "ath–
leticism can occasion the most
noble passions or the most vile....
It can be chivalrous or corrupt, vile,
bestial. One can use it to consoli–
date peace or prepare for war."
It
is the evil fruits of selfishness,
hostility and strife that, in the
Olympics, have tarnished the often
spectacul ar accomplishments of
athletic endeavor.
Will there be Olympic Games,
or athletic competitions similar to
them, in the coming world tomor–
row? The Bible does not specifical–
ly answer this question. However,
the Bible says in regard to sport
that bodily exercise "is profitable"
(l
Tim. 4:8)-although "godli–
ness"-righteous behavior- is
much more so.
So there is reason to believe that
in the world tomorrow, after all the
nations of this world have become
subject to the kingdom of God–
whicb will climinate distrust and
rivalry on the international level–
there may be athletic spectaculars
to far surpass anything this world
has had to offer. o
The
PLAIN TRUTH