Olympics More Than Athletics

First published August 9, 2012, but I have added notes ** and *** for explanation and information, August 13, 2016. 

I love to watch the Olympics, especially the gymnastics, swimming, and track events, but the Olympics can be about more than who is the fastest runner, the best diver, or who is best at maneuvering on parallel bars. Even today we look back at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, where Jesse Owens, a young black man from Cleveland, Ohio,* won four gold medals for the American team, leaving egg dripping from the faces of many a Nazi nutcase... ah, I mean leader... no, I DID mean nutcase. Reports indicated that Hitler snubbed Jesse Owens, although Jesse says Hitler actually waved to him and sent him an autographed picture, something American political leaders did NOT do. More important is what Hitler said in private and which was recounted by close associate and architect Albert Speer, who noted that the fanatical furious Führer was upset that black athletes were permitted to compete in the Olympics, because their jungle ancestry gave them an unfair advantage over white athletes. Hitler felt blacks should be banned from the competition. So for Hitler the saying "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em," became "If you can't beat 'em, ban 'em!"

This year in London we have had Michael Phelps' medal total passing all others in history. He says he will now retire, although some question that he will be able to remain on the sidelines in 2016, when the games are in Rio de Janeiro. Then we have 15 year old Katie Ledecky, 16 year old Gabby Douglas, and 17 year old Missy Franklin winning gold medals for the U.S. in certain events. Of course, if the fanatical furious Führer had had his way, little Gabby would have been banned.

Two things especially stand out in my mind about these Olympics so far: first, the participation of Oscar Pistorius, from South Africa,** who runs on two artificial lower legs, his lower legs having been amputated when he was a baby. Talk about guts! This man puts many of us to shame with the courage he displays in his daily life, not even counting his desire to compete on the running track. He made it to the semi-finals of the Mens 400-metre, but he didn't qualify for the finals, finishing last. I saw him in an interview the next morning and he didn't whine or bellyache, instead he wished his performance hadn't been so "pathetic." It would be far easier for Oscar to wallow in self-pity. I was so happy to hear the tremendous ovation he received from the crowd for his participation and it gives me hope that humans respect other human beings, instead of the hatred so often expressed, such as the massacre that took place this past weekend in Wisconsin.*** While Oscar finished last in the semi-finals, the first place finisher, Kirani James of Grenada, went to him and exchanged name tags with him, showing respect for this courageous man. Whether or not Kirani James wins the finals, he has already won gold by this action alone. This is the true Olympic spirit.

The second thing that stood out for me was runner Felix Sanchez, an American of Dominican heritage, who represents the Dominican Republic in international athletic competition. Felix runs in the 400m Hurdles, and in 2008 his beloved grandmother died just before his run in Beijing. Distraught over his grandmother's passing, Felix finished far down in the field, although he had previously won the event. This year, keeping a picture of his grandmother tucked inside his shirt next to his heart, he decided to give it all he had in his grandmother's memory and he WON! Taking her picture out he kissed it and cried as the crowd roared its approval for this man who has done many charity events in his career. He is the oldest (34 years old) to ever win this event, as I understand. Felix took me back in time to both of my grandmothers. I've been so lucky, because I had two wonderful grandmas. They weren't perfect and they weren't saints, but that's okay, because they were great human beings and I miss them so much! I can't sit here typing this without tears streaming down my cheeks, just as Felix Sanchez did the other day in memory of his grandmother.

* Owens was born in Alabama, but his family moved to Cleveland when he was a child. Also, the Berlin Games were not the result of Hitler wanting to showcase a revived Germany, as the site had been picked well in advance and years before Hitler was even in power, although the Nazi spectacle actually set the precedent for the extravagant opening ceremonies still expected to this day.

** In February 2013, Pistorius shot and killed his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, in Pretoria, South Africa. He was convicted of "culpable homicide" in 2014, being sentenced to 5 years imprisonment, a verdict and sentence that was appealed by the prosecution. In late 2015 the previous verdict was overturned to a verdict of "murder" by the South African court system and Pistorius was sentenced to 6 years imprisonment. Of course, it wasn't until this terrible murder that we heard from people who knew Pistorius personally about his temperament, including his nasty side, which was unleashed on this poor woman.

*** A mass shooting had occurred at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin on August 5, 2012, killing six and wounding four. The gunman, Wade Michael Page, a white supremacist, was wounded by a police officer and then killed himself, shooting himself in the head, like the fanatical furious Führer had done in 1945.

 

WORD HISTORY:
Run-The history of "run" is rather complicated, but I'll keep it simple. "Run" seems to go back to Indo European "rei/reu," which had the notion of "movement, set in motion." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "rinnanan" (to run, to flow) AND "rannjanan" (to cause to run or move). This gave Old English "rinnan"  and "iernan," both meaning "to run." "Iernan" seems to be one of those words which actually had the sounds transposed, and it may well have been "rennan" or "riennan," before the change. Whatever the case, the two Old English words joined to become Middle English "ronnen," but it didn't become "run" until the 1500s. Common in the other Germanic languages: German has "rennen" ("to run, to race") and "rinnen" ("to run, also in the sense "flow"); Low German Saxon has "rinnen" and "rännen;" "Dutch has "rennen;" West Frisian has "rinne" (which means "to march"); Danish has "rinde" ("to run, to flow"); Icelandic has "renna" ("to glide, to flow"); Norwegian has "renne" ("to run, to flow"); and Swedish has "rinna" ("to run, to flow").