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The Olympics aren’t just an exciting sporting event featuring the best athletes in the world, they’re a reflection of humanity’s social values — and the battle in Tokyo this year over those values was just as exciting as the actual competitions themselves.
Sports is a measure of how far the human body has evolved through disciplined passion. It is also an attempt to create a model of fair play that doesn’t exist in the real world. This Olympics was especially revealing, rewarding and repulsive, with lessons to be learned for all of us interested in maintaining sports as a pinnacle of a competitive but compassionate community.
Certainly, one of the highlights that demonstrates both the grit of being an athlete and the competitive spirit of the Olympics was Dutch runner Sifan Hassan’s performance in the 1,500-meter heat. After a collision with another runner sent her sprawling to the ground with the final lap of 400 meters to go, she rose from the ground and sprinted after the rest of the runners, overtaking them all and winning the race.
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As elated as I get watching amazing athletic accomplishments like this, I am more deeply moved by seeing examples of good sportspersonship. It’s easy to be magnanimous and cheerful after winning, but it takes a superior athlete to show grace in losing. When Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy and Mutaz Barshim of Qatar were tied in the high jump, rather than go through a jump-off to determine one winner, they chose to share the gold medal. “This is beyond sport,” Barshim said. “This is a message we deliver to the young generation.” Tamberi agreed: “Sharing with a friend is even more beautiful.”
When Botswana’s Nijel Amos accidentally tripped American Isaiah Jewett in the men’s 800 meters, both fell to the ground with no chance to win. Instead of yelling or stomping in frustration, Jewett helped Amos to his feet. Amos apologized. Then they put their arms around each other and finished the race, with Amos holding back so Jewett could finish before him. Jewett admitted he was disappointed because he felt he had a shot at winning, but he also said he learned something from all the superhero animations he watches. “Standing up and showing good character, even if it’s my rival or whoever I’m racing,” he said. “That’s what heroes do. They show their humanity through who they are.” I will remember these two athletes long after I’ve forgotten who actually won.
Simone Biles’ decision to drop out of several gymnastics events because of mental health reasons that endangered her physically elicited lots of impassioned — and imbecilic — opinions. She experienced the “twisties,” which is a disconnect between the brain and body that in a sport like gymnastics could result in severe career-ending, perhaps life-ending, injury. Athletes familiar with the pressures of competing at the highest levels supported her choice while self-righteous couch warriors called her “a shame to the country.”
While I don’t take the hyperbole of these discount pundits seriously — because they are, as Alex Jones admitted, “performance artists” paid to act outrageously, not think coherently — we have to acknowledge a certain misconception among the people they perform their clown act for. Some fans prefer their sports heroes to be as personally flawless as their athletic performances — to embody all the sports cliches they’ve seen in every inspirational sports movie. This romanticizing of athletes dehumanizes them into sports action figures with interchangeable bobbleheads.
Of course, this Stone Age attitude toward mental health only increases the pressure on athletes. This mind-set among parents is one of the reasons 70 percent of kids in America quit sports by the time they’re 13. According to the National Alliance for Youth, the main reason given is “it’s just not fun anymore.” In part, this is because parents put too much pressure on the children to perform to the parents’ satisfaction. Biles, the most decorated gymnast in the world, did return to win a bronze medal on the balance beam, declaring that the bronze means more than all her gold medals because of what she’s been through. “At the end of the day, we’re not just athletes or entertainment,” she said. “We’re human too, and we have real emotions, and sometimes they don’t realize that we have things going on behind the scenes that affect us whenever we compete.”
American swimmer Caeleb Dressel, despite winning five gold medals, told reporters afterward that he was “pretty over swimming” now. “Some parts were extremely enjoyable,” he said. “I would say the majority of them were not. You can’t sleep right, you can’t nap, shaking all the time. I probably lost 10 pounds.” This Olympics has shown true fans that part of being a smart athlete is knowing how far to push yourself — and when to back off.
Transgender athletes have faced a lot of pushback based on junk science and self-righteous moralizing. As at least five states in the U.S. consider laws to ban trans student-athletes from competing in school sports, several trans athletes competed in the Olympics, which has permitted trans participation since 2004. New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard did not medal, dispelling the fears of genetic dominance that are contrary to the actual medical facts.
Quinn, a midfielder for Canada’s women’s soccer team, became the first trans nonbinary Olympic athlete to win a medal when Canada beat Sweden in the gold medal match. Despite placing last in women’s street, trans nonbinary American skateboarder Alana Smith posted afterward, “For the first time in my entire life, I’m proud of the person I’ve worked to become.”
The debate as to whether the Games should have been held at all considering the threat to health and lives such an event can cause internationally will continue throughout the pandemic. The surge of COVID-19 in Tokyo caused some pivoting, like not allowing spectators into the stands. At the very least, the International Olympic Committee should have made vaccinations mandatory, not just to protect the health of the athletes and the staff that supports them but to send a message to those unwilling to vaccinate for their own selfish reasons. Athletes like U.S. swimmer Michael Andrew, who recklessly refused to vaccinate or wear a mask while talking to reporters, is free to choose his politics over the well-being of everyone else, but the cost should have been his eviction from the Games. The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee agreed his actions were in violation of its protocols but did nothing. Yet, in another incident proving inconsistency in enforcing protocols, the credentials of 14 participants in the Tokyo Games were revoked because of COVID-19 violations.
I was heartened to see the modest protests against social injustice — within the new IOC rules — displayed by some of the athletes. Team USA’s women’s soccer team and members of other countries’ soccer teams took a knee before their tournaments. After winning a silver medal, U.S. shot-putter Raven Saunders raised her hands to form an X, U.S. fencer Race Imboden displayed a circled X on his hand after winning the bronze medal (the X representing the intersection of where oppressed people meet), and U.S. hammer thrower Gwen Berry raised a fist before competing. While these simple expressions may not seem world-shaking, they represent a shifting in how athletes perceive themselves and their place in the world. Many are no longer content to just grab their medals and endorsements and bank their rewards; they also want to be symbols of change.
The Olympics are always evolving, just like the rest of society. Athletes continue to break records, to elevate the capabilities of the human body. But what’s the point of developing the body without also developing our conscience? Tokyo has shown us evidence of that developing conscience within sports, but it has also exposed areas that still need our attention. I’m optimistic that these Olympics will inspire us to push the concept of fair play further. We’ll check back in Paris in 2024 to measure how far we have leapt forward.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is an NBA Hall of Famer and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
This appears in the Aug. 11 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
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