I gather they will soon start distributing ‘Olympic’ medals somewhere in northern Italy, not far from the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula where all sorts of physical contests thrived in ancient times. And next month the same venues will host ‘Paralympic Winter Games’ which, as my superficial search indicates, put a premium on values such as courage, inspiration and determination.
What’s the connection between the three events? A Greek placename ‘Olympia’ plus geographical location, so far as the Italian events are concerned. Other than that, nothing, niente, and the same in Greek – somebody help me!
Not all observers believe in total disconnection, though. Several academics still insist on examining ‘how the modern Olympic and Paralympic Games reflect the sacredness of ancient sports games,’ as a recent contribution to the anachronistic literature put it. By way of conclusion, the four (Italian) academics chose to highlight the ‘tension between the traditional Olympic Ethos, rooted in the Greek philosophy of the pursuit of virtue and ethical formation, and the contemporary Efficiency Ethos, which emphasizes quantitative results and measurable performances.’
Tension, my foot! As if the ancient ‘athletes’ (for want of a better term) wished to become champion philosophers instead of champion skiers (supposing that they did participate in winter games). True, their contests were rooted in Greek mythology and held in honor of Greek gods, but I do assume that in the heat of the moment they merely wished to make mincemeat of their opponents.
One might also wonder whether ‘only the Paralympics’ have managed to preserve ‘the ancient Olympic Ethos,’ as the four scholars further claim. Paralympic athletes surely deserve credit for their grit, as do their able-bodied counterparts, but no ancient Greek could have conceived of competitions between disabled people. Such spectacles would have made a mockery of their so-called sports ethos.
Quite another thing is the four authors’ persistent misuse of Johan Huizinga, the late great Dutch historian. In his celebrated, somewhat melancholic Homo Ludens (1938), Huizinga categorized modern sport as a corrupt form of play. To twist Huizinga’s musings into a well-meaning sports reform program surely makes a mockery of his argumentation.
At this point, I feel obliged to apologize for excessive attention to a single academic contribution to the curious genre of sports nostalgia. It is only human to feel desperate when the supposedly pristine world of sports suddenly seems to be threatened by political manipulation, corruption cases, technological gimmicks and medicine misuse.
Apart from ridding oneself of delusions by studying history, my advice is to sit back and enjoy the Italian winter extravaganza. Or, even better, go find your skies and organize enjoyment for yourself!
