Though I cannot presently locate my copy of The Essence of Sport, the 2003 Århus-inspired anthology by leading scholars of sport, I insist on agreeing with John Nauright’s argument which I have gone through and made use of on more than two or three occasions. I also claim that, twenty years on, his conclusion has not lost an iota of its relevance.
Today, 50 years ago, the Finnish wonder Lasse Viren completed his gargantuan effort at the 1976 Montreal olympic games. Having already prevailed in the 10,000 and 5,000 meters, he finished fifth in the marathon – less than 24 hours after the rather brutal 5 km race.
Four years earlier in Munich, of course, Viren had bagged his first gold medals in the two track events.
Crucially, what Viren achieved was merely the tip of the proverbial iceberg insofar as the story of the Flying Finns is concerned. Finnish distance runners had already ruled the world in the 1920s and 1930s; and in the 1970s they did it again, at that time against opponents from across the globe. A pre-adolescent Finnish boy could hardly have dreamt of a more glorious childhood!
Since last year, I have published four, maybe five major running-related pieces, all of them featuring my childhood heroes and belonging to the time-honored ‘it happened 50 years ago’ genre. (Click here and here, for example.) While I cannot claim to have witnessed any of the key races, I have read, and re-read, about them first in the late 1970s and most recently… hold on… let me think… late last night, perhaps… no, early this morning.
Regarding Dr Nauright’s temporarily lost essay, his argument can happily be condensed into a single word. Nostalgia. We care for sport because of nostalgia. Therefore, the ultimate, non-negotiable essence of sport is nostalgia.
Conversely, if you haven’t been thrilled by sport (any sport, I guess) as a kid, you miss the sweet taste of sportive nostalgia but can still, hopefully, lead a long and meaningful life.
