The Olympic Dream

Beijing's "Bird's Nest" stadium at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics.

Another 4 years had passed and now the 2008 Beijing Olympic game has begun. I just watched the opening ceremony (briefly)...it was spectacular indeed! The Chinese government spared no effort (and money) at creating a lasting impression on the biggest event of the year. 

Although I'm not a citizen of the People's Republic of China, however being a Chinese, I do feel a sense of "connection" and pride at seeing what China has achieved, a dream that took a century to fulfill. They literally encapsuled 5000 years of history in a single night.

I remembered the very 1st Olympic games that I followed was in 1988 (cant remember the city…could be Barcelona?). Both my older brothers were sporting enthusiasts and would follow the games and events religiously. Being with them much, naturally led me to have the same interest in sports and games.

This Olympic will be no different. I’ll be following the various events (swimming, track & field, gymnastics, table tennis, diving) as closely as my schedule allows, and will catch up on those I missed by reading the newspaper.

From the news, I often heard about athletes who failed the dope tests, and I just couldn’t quite comprehend the reasoning behind the action, apart from the obvious reason (I mean, surely they knew the risk etc??). Until few days ago, when I read in amazement that many of them were actually in the dark themselves.

Especially those from communist countries, children just beginning their sporting careers were literally “fed” with stamina/physique enhancing drugs by their coaches, instructed by the State. All those while, they and their parents were led to think that those were vitamins.

Their mentality is, get all the children out there “enhanced”, and surely 1 in a thousand will get to stand on the podium receiving a medal, and bring glory and wealth to the country. That’s downright dirty, not to mention “cruel” as many of them not only failed to achieve their sporting dreams, they were also robbed of the chance to know if they could have ever made it with their own ability in the first place. Hearing about the many physical suffering they had to go through because of ill-health due to the after effects of the drugs were just heart wrenching. One girl, grew up becoming a man (literally) because of the hormone drugs taken during her early years. Another suffered 3 miscarriages along the way... *sigh*

A Christian's walk is often likened to that of an athlete undergoing training, or running a race, marathon etc. There’s a spirit of excellence, endurance and perseverance that I as a Christian can learn from these athletes who went through years of training, discipline and sacrifice, just for a moment’s glory in the Olympics that comes around every 4 years. I definitely would want to witness the triumphs and failures and be inspired yet again by the people who literally gave up everything to be number #1.