Article June 11, 2012 Issue

Spiritual participation in the Olympics

Tony Lobl

On April 17 , 100 days before London’s 2012 Summer Olympics, British gymnast Louis Smith looked forward to his chance to thrill the home fans. He told the London Evening Standard: “Having the roar of the crowd behind us will be an amazing feeling.” 

For sporting fans that “amazing feeling” is already being stoked by articles featuring memories of vintage gold: Romania’s Nadia Comaneci scoring the first “perfect 10” in women’s gymnastics in 1976; British decathlete Daley Thompson earning consecutive golds in Moscow and Los Angeles (1980 and 1984); and Jamaican Usain Bolt striding 100 meters in 41 steps in Beijing four years ago.

But the feeling of anticipation is also growing for many in the United Kingdom and around the world who don’t usually pay much attention to sport, because the Olympics are so much more than a great sporting event. They’re a ray of promise that bursts into the global psyche every four years, like sunshine penetrating the incessant mist of disturbing headlines.