THE OLYMPICS have always been about more than just sport. Since 1896 they have been staged as a cosmopolitan festival that sends a message to humanity. In their 19th-century incarnation the games were, as Baron De Coubertin, the father of the modern Olympics, wrote, “a display of manly virtue” for what was, in effect, a neo-hellenic cult of the amateur athletic gentleman.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC), the games’ governing body, has long since made its peace with professionalism and women’s sport, but it has struggled to find new messages that it can credibly broadcast. Such messages are no mere sideshow; they are supposed to be central to the modern Olympics. For in the absence of such social purpose or moral mission, what are the games but a very expensive, highly commercialised made-for-television spectacle?
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