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PARIS: As the plane hovered over Paris, there was an eerie calm. The flight circled the outskirts of the city and even after it landed the Olympic Games buzz was missing.The Charles de Gaulle Airport was not screaming about the Games. There were not too many hoardings nor were there welcoming signs. It was quiet.
A volunteer was holding a small placard to show the way towards the accreditation validation desk, there were a few helpful volunteers trying every possible way to make things easier upon landing. Even the ride towards the city did not scream of Olympics. It was sedate until the turning on Stade de Paris – it was all decked up.
The hoardings there were yelling for unity. It’s yearning and almost pleading for friendship – something the Olympics symbolises. A French friend had warned about rising temperatures but to be in 24 degree centigrade from 33 is always paradise. The air is lighter. The sis are overcast but there were patches of blue. But the weather is not the thing we are here for. It’s the Olympics and the days ahead will be all about sports.There are dedicated Paris 2024 lanes for the Olympic Family but they are yet to be filled. With just three days to go, the city is expecting to get the buzz back. And sport as usual will play its role. Yet, the unifying edifice of sports is under threat. The most pristine and unpolluted of all emotions, is facing an existential dilemma in a world fractured and dominated by hyper nationalism, extreme emotional reaction, the scourge of unsolicited and unverified broadcast through social media…
Hundred years since Paris hosted the Olympic Games and it is only poetic that there is a divide between not just the West vs East or North vs South but within nations and within households.
When International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach voiced his concern on Monday evening he was only touching on reality. His speech at the OIC session, shared by the IOC, evoked a sense of despair but with some optimism. Among the audience were the French president Emmanuel Macron and host of International Federations (Ifs) officials.
“We are witnessing a new world order in the making. Historic disruptions are upending the system of international relations that has been in place since the second World War,” he said. “The trends are unfortunately clear: decoupling of economies; beggar-thy-neighbour; narrow self-interest trumping the rule of law; ‘Global South’ vs ‘Global North’. Everywhere you look, multilateralism is on the backfoot. In this new world order, ‘cooperation’ and ‘compromise’ are sadly considered disparaging terms.”This cannot be truer than what we are witnessing in our times.
The IOC themselves had faced criticism for ignoring Israel’s attack on Palestine, while not allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate but under the neutral flag. Then there are issues within France and Europe. Liberty and equality – the two tenets vouchsafed during the French Revolution too seem to be under threat. This perhaps could be one of the most politically charged Olympics. “These trends are deeply disturbing to us because they are going straight against our mission to unite,” IOC president went on to say during the event. “Grounded in and united by our Olympic values – we must be ready to face this sea-change.”
However, sports is always considered the greatest of levellers. And Bach hopes this Olympics could bring solace to the millions splintered by pessimism in the heart and war without. On a decidedly more optimistic and upbeat note, however, President Bach said: “We are prepared because we are not only multilateral – we are global. The Olympic Movement is a global movement. In the Olympic Movement, we are all equal. There is no ‘Global South’ or ‘Global North’. We have 206 National Olympic Committees that all enjoy equal rights under the Olympic Charter. What is more, we are living in solidarity with each other. Solidarity – this core value defines our Olympic community.”
As the city braces up for the sternest test of modern times – they are hosting the most ambitious Opening Ceremonies (on Seine River) of all times. In a society fragmented over immigration policies and migrant rights. With the world divided as ever, the Games will indeed be that balm for at least three weeks where everyone forgets the vagaries of nature and enjoys sports for what it is – unbridled emotion and freedom.
