THE OLYMPIC GAMES - Mirror of Mankind - Gene H Hogberg - July-August 1984

Gene H Hogberg

As world's finest athletes gather for the Twenty-third Olympiad, politics and international rivalry again threaten to overshadow the colorful spectacle. "EVERY four years the world watches the supreme effort of sportsmen striving for their Olympic triumph." So writes Juan Antonio Samaranch, president of the International Olympic Committee (lOC), in the foreword to the book The Olympic Games, 1984. "Healthy competition and fellowship," continued the IOC's chief executive, "are needed more than ever today in strengthening the desire for peace and lessening the effect of political conflict." Olympic ideals, however, often contrast with the grim reality of the world. Again, in 1984, as in previous Olympiads, the Olympic ideal and its motto Citius, Altius, Fortius- Swifter, Higher, Stronger are marred by the powerful forces of nationalism. On May 8 United States Olympic officials were stunned at the announcement that Soviet athletes would not participate in the Games of the Twenty-third Olympiad. The official TASS agency said Soviet athletes could not be safeguarded against expected political demonstrations. - Information Supplied By: Herbert W Armstrong Library