Rio 2016: The Olympic Legacy

Ever since the first televised Olympics in 1960, the international sporting event has always been a podium for athletes to voice their opinions. From John Carlos and Tommie Smith’s Black Power salutes during their medal ceremonies in 1968, to the USA team’s boycott in 1980 to protest the USSR’s invasion of Afghanistan, to the North and South Korean teams marching as one in the 2000 Olympics opening ceremony, the athletic competition never ceased to be a political stage.

This year’s Olympics was undoubtedly the highlight of the summer, if not the entire year of 2016. It was swimmer Michael Phelps’ last Olympics; it was gymnast Simone Biles’ first. World records have been broken, medals have been won, and stories have been written.

However, the Rio Olympics, like others, represented more than just pure athleticism.

2016 has been a bad year. With the #BlackLivesMatter movement being revamped like never before after multiple police shootings targeted towards African-Americans, the world was in spiteful awe of the American justice system’s flaws only revealed so recently. Multiple ISIS attacks, including the Orlando shooting, only added salt to the wound. Discrimination towards immigrants and Muslims reached its peak following the Syrian conflict and terrorist activities. Global audiences criticized Brexit, leaving Great Britain in a controversial position and the country itself in a political turmoil. Now, everyone’s eyes are targeted at the American election, many choosing to condemn the citizens for the popularity of the infamous Donald Trump.

The Summer Games in Rio was an opportunity for the world to focus upon the phenomenon that has always united humans — sports. It was an adequate distraction for all the tragic and controversial events happening around the world. However, like all Olympic games, Rio 2016 went beyond the world of athletic competition.

The controversies began before the Olympics even started. There was debate about Rio’s capability to host such an event. Due to the Olympics, light was shed upon Rio’s criminal problems; the city has been plagued by a high crime rate, and officials were worried of the athletes’ safety during the games. More importantly, however, was the Rio’s sanitation concerns. With the high media coverage of the Zika virus, Rio’s poor action against water pollution and inefficient sewage treatment was heavily criticized. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Rio is rated Level 2 (out of three levels of recommended disease precautions). Despite the criticism, Rio managed to successfully pull off a spectacular opening ceremony, even with its limited budget. Again, this brought in many other controversies.

In the opening ceremony, Rio not only focused on showing the audience Brazil’s history (a tradition first made popular by the 2008 Beijing Olympics), but also the effects of climate change. This, unsurprisingly, was condemned by those that didn’t believe in climate change’s legitimacy and blamed Rio for bringing liberal politics into a sporting event. Although the critics are wrong on many levels, they were right on one thing: this was one of the only times an Olympics opening ceremony used the platform to bring in an segment concerning a somber and somewhat controversial (though it shouldn’t be) issue. But upon further speculation, what better place to show this message than an international sporting event? This may set a precedent for future opening ceremonies.

With the popularity of social media, the Rio Olympics received an enormous amount of coverage. Many images, including the selfie between the South and North Korean athletes, swimmer Fu Yuanhui’s reactions, and Usain Bolt’s smile as he finished first (surprisingly) in his race, became viral after their release.

Some athletes took the opportunity of this coverage to bring awareness to their political stances, as athletes have always done in such sporting events. One such case this year was Feyisa Lilesa, the Ethiopian marathon runner who crossed his arms together as he crossed the finish line. It was a gesture used by protesters in his country to object against Ethiopia’s maltreatment of the Oromo people, which happens to be the majority of Ethiopia’s population. As Lilesa himself says: “The Ethiopian government is killing my people…If I go back to Ethiopia, maybe they will kill me.”

This brought the Oromo conflict in Ethiopia into global spotlight, and also sympathy for the runner. The same sympathy is given to Hong Un-jong, the North Korean gymnast in the viral selfie taken by Lee Eun-ju, a South Korean gymnast. Many showed concern about Un-jong’s safety when she returns due to the bitter rivalry between the Koreas; however, according to Michael Madden, a scholar of the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University, she will face no consequences upon her return due to the North Korean’s loosened policies concerning sports. Nonetheless, this brought to people’s attention North Korea’s treatment of returning athletes in general. In a statement by Toshimitsu Shigemura, an authority of the North Korean leadership, he said: “[The athletes] [Kim Jong-un] feels have let him down are likely to be punished by being moved to poorer quality housing, having their rations reduced and, in the worst-case scenario, being sent to the coal mines as punishment.”

The 2016 Olympics has revealed many global issues many were ignorant to before. These athletes not only used the Olympics as a stage for their social outcries, but also to educate the world of its imperfections. This is not exclusive to Rio; the Olympics has always been a popular way to inform the international audience of civil rights movements, protests, and other such events.

And this is why international athleticism is so important. It is the one thing, amid the cultural differences and political conflicts, that brings us together. It is a competition between athletes that come from different backgrounds, but standing behind the same line, waiting to begin the same race. It is an outlet for patriotism and national pride, but also a source of international empathy and mutual support. It is a place where one doesn’t see others as enemies or allies, but fellow athletes.

The Olympics is the biggest competition, bigger than wars, rebellions, and revolutions, and not because it involves 206 countries, or has more than 11,000 competitors, or even the fact that it brings these armed conflicts into light, but because it represents the deepest desire of the human mind: to have a race, laugh about it afterwards, and not have to worry about anything else.

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