A few more thoughts on Beijing...

Earlier today I was watching the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and quite honestly I had very mixed feelings. Ever since the 1992 Olympics (before that I was too young to be all that interested in the Olympic Games) I have watched the ceremonies, the events, read the stories and shared in the excitement that comes from seeing your nations best on the world stage. As a sportsperson who spent years in training I know the excitement of competition, yet nothing I have experienced can compare to what it must have been like standing in that stadium.

But, as I watched this years opening ceremony I couldn’t help thinking about the recent coverage given to human rights abuses taking please in that part of the world including the ongoing conflict over the status of Tibet. The Olympic movement is at times looked at as a way to bring the world together in sport rather than in conflict, and this in spite of differences. Unfortunately as I watched this year’s opening ceremony I couldn’t help feel as though there is an attempt, at least on the part of some people, to gloss over some things going on in the world today in order to have this festival of sport and global brotherhood (this thought rising to the surface especially when seeing George W Bush in attendance and smiling at the USA’s athletes).

But then again there is quite a bit of money in sport today, more so than at any point before, and that is definitely a motive to gloss over the abuses suffered by a few unknown people in some lesser known part of the world.