What the Olympics Meant

The Olympic games has become a curious contemporary event. It juxtaposes the idea of global unity with the fervent nationalism of international competitive sport.

Recently, the winter Olympics took place in Vancouver, Canada and our home country exploded with national pride as we watched Canadian athletes take home more gold medals than any host nation ever has in either the summer or winter games. The Canadian Olympic team was aided by the Own the Podium funding program. It was designed to give our Olympians an edge in competition. The money went to things like coaching and technology, designing new snow boards with a plastic plating on top helped Jasey Jay Anderson win gold in his fourth Olympic appearance.

The gathering of different cultures and ethnicity's of the world is an inspiring sight. Attendees at the men's alpine skiing event cheered enthusiastically for the sole Ghana athlete, Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong. Nicknamed the "Snow Leopard", he skied comparatively slowly down the hill and finished near the bottom of the leader board, but was greeted at the end of his run with a welcoming roar from the crowd.

Can two seemingly competing values both be embodied in this sporting event? Nations have often used the Olympics as a coming out party to display their political power. The 1936 Berlin Olympics comes to mind. Even the last summer games in Beijing was seen as a display for the country's rising global might. Are viewers expected to choose between the idea of unity and competition? Very few would be naive enough to see the Olympics as solely a universal coming togetherness of the human race.

To Canadians, this Olympics will be regarded as a success. We won men's ice hockey gold after all. People were partying in the streets after the victory and all the celebrators were filled with energy, and a new sense of pride. Does this mean the Olympics is primarily a competitive event, where each nation is bent on victory? It's difficult to say, but it will be interesting to see where Canadians and the Canadian government invest this newly rejuvenated energy in the near future.


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What do the Olympic games mean to you? Do you agree with my opinion on the conflicting values of the Olympics? Any and all comments are welcome.

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