Paris Olympics are holding a mirror to real life
Competitors start the swimming leg of the Women's Individual Triathlon on day five of the Olympics in Paris at Pont Alexandre III on Wednesday. Credit: Getty Images/Ezra Shaw
Before we get too far into August, can we take a moment to recall July? Even by our modern firehose-of-news standards, it was one of the craziest months on record. The ticktock account alone is breathless.
July saw an epic Supreme Court ruling giving presidents wide protections from criminal prosecutions, the attempted assassination of a former president, the corruption conviction of an incumbent U.S. senator, a positive COVID-19 test for the president, worldwide electronic chaos unleashed by a flawed software update, the departure of the sitting president from the presidential race, the rapid consolidation of support for the sitting vice president to replace him, a rocket attack in Israel that killed 12 teens and children, the killing of a Hezbollah leader and the assassination of a top Hamas official, and Earth’s two hottest days and its hottest month on record.
And as the calendar page turned, a massive hostage deal with Russia was nearing completion, a joyful culmination that took place on the first day of August.
It was enough to whiplash even the hardiest consumers of news.
One potential source of relief appeared toward the end of the month, that dependable font of escapism called the Olympics. How soothing it would be to revel in amazing feats of athleticism and root for competitors with empathetic back stories — and to do so while enjoying stunning Parisian backdrops.
What a bummer, then, to discover that the Olympics have been just as chock-full of real-life problems and drama utterly apropos to our times.
On the day of Opening Ceremonies, saboteurs attacked France’s high-speed train network, exposing embarrassing security gaps. Canada — Canada!! — was penalized after two assistant coaches used drones to spy on an opponent’s practices. A British swimmer tested positive for COVID-19 after winning a silver medal, one of more than a dozen-and-counting athletes to test positive in Paris. Pollution in the Seine postponed the triathlon races, and when they finally went off it was not clear that the river actually was clean enough for competition.
The Olympic cauldron was found to be fake news — not a flame at all but an optical illusion created by LED lights and water mist. A Eurosport TV commentator was removed after making sexist remarks following a swim competition. Two female boxers were engulfed in a social media firestorm over their right to compete as women after being disqualified by a since-discredited sport governing body at last year’s world championships for failing unspecified and nontransparent gender-eligibility tests in a murky process the International Olympic Committee labeled unfair and arbitrary.
Oh, and it’s been hot, so much so that horses are being hosed down between rides at the Chateau de Versailles, beach volleyball players are covering themselves in ice bags between games, women rugby players are taking pregame ice baths, and beach volleyball fans at Eiffel Tower Stadium are being sprayed with hoses.
In truth, the Olympics have always been beset by controversy though most often over drug-test results and questionable judging. The degree to which the Parisian contretemps mirror what’s happening outside that golden bubble seems strikingly new.
And yet, as always is the case, there is inspiration to be found. It’s been there on the mats, on the courses, on the courts, on the track, in the water. The cauldron of competition has been real. And if one emulates the athletes themselves and focuses on that, and only that, there is much to appreciate, celebrate, and learn.
In their own way, the Olympics have been a mirror of what’s happening on the outside and all around The Games. And as in life itself, we pick through the good and bad, sometimes happy and sometimes not, sometimes winners and sometimes something else.
We take the real, the surreal, and the utterly unreal, blend it together, and keep moving on.
Columnist Michael Dobie's opinions are his own.
Michael Dobie is a member of the Newsday editorial board.
