Editorial July 15, 1996 Issue

Olympic team spirit: something to watch for

Mary Metzner Trammell

An estimated three or four billion of us worldwide will be watching the Centennial Olympic Games over the next few weeks—either on television or from the grandstands in Atlanta. But the question I've asked is ... Why will we be watching the Games? What is it about them that captivates us so? The spectacle of it all? The thrill of competition? The fun of getting to know the world's top athletes? The breaking of bounds and limitations?

Sure, all these things figure into our fascination with the Olympics. For most of us, however, there's something else. Something that runs deep and makes us feel profoundly satisfied as we watch the Games. Something you could call—for lack of a better term—team spirit.

This Olympic team spirit isn't a dog-eat-dog, competitive kind of thing. It's a spirit that often makes the athletes feel more like cheering each other on than beating each other out. It celebrates what the International Olympic Committee once called "the triumph of the human spirit." And somehow it makes the whole human family feel like part of the celebration!

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