Bringing Home Gold

As published in The County Times (countytimes.somd.com)

By Ronald N. Guy Jr.

August 2024: There won’t be another like it until 2028.  Even then, only subject and structure will be the same; the location, participants, details and outcomes will be different.  For writers, a comparable won’t occur until 2026, in the dead of the northern hemisphere’s winter.  Such is the tempo of the Olympics.  Such is the joyous opportunity to write about them. 

For Americans, this latest addition of the Olympiad, the XXXIII Summer Games for those counting at home, comes at a particularly divisive time in America.  Differences have always been present in our history; this is both the consequence and great beauty of our democratic creed’s sworn protection of the freedom of expression and of democracy itself. 

We are, inarguably, at a time when division sells; political power is now obtained more through social media and stump-blasted, fictional fear-mongering and demonization of the opposition than it is through objective discussion of issues and skillful persuasion – think The Federalist Papers, the Abraham Lincoln-Stephen Douglas debates, or any other contentious political endeavor that advanced our republic closer to the idea captured in the Declaration of Independence (such as the 15^th and 19^th Amendments, and the 1964 Civil Rights Act).  It’s understandable – as long as the bait is taken, the political angler will cast the irresistible offering into the water.

Into this curious and nationally malignant environment strolls the Olympic Games, where we are athletically as we are in everyday (forgotten?) reality – Team U.S.A.  On the team, our team, is, among many others, LeBron James from Akron, Ohio, Stephen Curry from Charlotte, North Carolina, Suni Lee from St. Paul, Minnesota, Scottie Scheffler from Ridgewood, New Jersey, Regan Smith from Lakeville, Minnesota, Gretchen Walsh from Nashville, Tennessee, Simone Biles from Spring, Texas, and a whole bunch of fantastic locals, including Kevin Durant (Suitland), Erin Gemmell (Potomac), Torri Huske (Arlington), Noah Lyles (Alexandria) and Katie Ledecky (Bethesda).  In fact, only two states – North Dakota and Wyoming – didn’t send an Olympic or Paralympic athlete to Paris. 

Glance at a map of the United States.  Spin a globe around slowly with your fingers.  What do you see?  Lines.  Darn near every single land mass that has managed to rise above the water’s surface has been claimed.  This is mine.  That is yours.  We do things this way within our boundaries.  These are our laws, this is who is allowed to join, these are the liberties extended to all, to some or to a select few.  Over the course of human history, those lines have flexed – some erased, new ones emerged, still others were re-drawn – often with great loss of human life.  Some conflicts are understandable in the moment; none make much sense when contemplating humanity’s co-occupation of our amazing little planet spinning through space.

Pondering all of that with an Olympic backdrop invites two thoughts, one global and the other much closer to home.  First, in watching Olympians represent their countries, compete and, win or lose, respect the sport and their international rivals…it makes one wonder if we - the big we – can find a way to share our collective human journey as gracefully as Olympians share their athletic experience.  That’s a big dream, and athletics is small, but perhaps it offers a nudge toward a better world, if not a solution to an existential challenge as old as our species itself.

Second, that long list of Olympians and full accounting of the origins of our Olympic team, makes a powerful point.  We can achieve our very best - whether the challenge be in technology, engineering, healthcare, defense of our nation, or sports - only if we draw on all of our resources.  No other nation quite resembles our demographics.  That is our cheat code as Americans.  That doesn’t mean we will all get along perfectly, or that individuality in race, religion, gender or creed should be sacrificed for homogeneity.  The challenge it does issue is to refuse to view our differences with suspicion, fear or hatred, and to remember our collective potential, no matter what poison those in or seeking power shamelessly peddle.  That’s how America finishes first and brings home the gold.