The True Olympic Values

One of the stated values promoted by the Olympic movement is to bring together the world on the field of play to better promote social harmony and understanding. For me it has certainly been the alluring part of covering Olympic sports that one is able to interact with people from all parts of the globe, all "walks of life." It is truly a globalization of sorts.

When you travel to other countries, as Charlie Mahler is now on his journey to Kenya, you not only meet athletes in their home environment, you get to see the world close up, not merely through a picture travelogue or from others' stories. One of the most valuable assets the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. has is the fact that he has lived, visited, or has relatives in far reaching parts of the world.

President Obama's relations in Kenya, his time in India, provide him with a more global perspective in a world where all things are becoming more and more homogenized and connected. So, when someone, like Charlie, goes on a trip to Kenya, he doesn't only meet with Olympic champions Pamela Jelimo and Wilfred Bungei, or Janeth Chepkoskei Alfred Yego, Asbel Kiprop, Nancy Langat, Paul Koech, and Sammy Koskei, he interacts with the citizens of the country, as the picture he posted from a Kenyan primary school shows.

When you're traveling, you read the local papers. Learn about gang/tribal warfare such as this link to a investigative series run this week in the East African Standard(you can follow the links to the related stories from the lead article)chronicles. Last year the violence that erupted after the disputed election gave those outside Kenya a view of the forces at work in Kenya and many other parts of Africa or so called Third World nations.

What sports reporters have learned through getting to know the Kenyans over the years is that the greatest threats to their success are political instability,corruption and disease. More Kenyan athletes have been sidelined by malaria than sports related injuries. More of them have been denied a chance to either race outside the country, go to school and pursue and education in a foreign land, or run in the world championships or Olympics by corruption in the alphabet groups who govern the sport in the country.

Patrick Sang, who came to the US to attend Iowa State University and ran in the Human Race 8K in St. Paul, told me when we visited him in Eldoret was that one key to Kenyan success was the relative political stability of the country. Unlike Ethiopia, Somalia, and other African nations, political turmoil, until last year, had been mild. There wasn't widespread violence or genocide to rob the country of its youth.

The success of the Kenyan runners in the Olympics and IAAF championships became a source of pride and inspiration. So, even while there was meddling and empire building among the country's sports officials, most athletes could find a way to compete and prosper in the sport. But as Charlie noted in his dispatch from Nairobi this morning: "It seem like a lot of lives here are very close to the edge. We saw Internal Displaced Persons camps here and there during our rounds. Kind of sobering to see 'UN High Commission for Refugees' on the side of a tent you're motoring past."

In depth reporting from foreign lands has never been a major element in US media coverage, and usually only surfaced at times of major disasters or events of political significance. With the current turmoil in the media business, foreign reporting is getting even less exposure. This is why Olympic reporters can and have provided an opening to the world for readers of the sports pages.

All one has to do is go back to the Beijing Olympic coverage and the "window" that opened to the rest of the world of China. The games we play offer us opportunities to meet people that have different values and perspective on the world. They can open our eyes to cultures we know so little about. It is a voyage of discovery.

With the internet, cell phones, and social networking, it has become easier to make and maintain contact with people in all parts of the globe. It's globalization in its purest sense, and one of the most noble of the Olympic values.