=Playing Olympic Games=

Charles [Charlie] Altekruse '80 is a second year student at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He was a member of the 1980 Olympic Rowing Team and is a candidate of the 1984 squad that will go to Los Angeles this summer. The Soviet Union and a number of its allies will not be going and Altekruse, a 1982 World Championship bronze medalist had the following thoughts about the boycott.

As a member of the 1980 U.S. Summer Olympic Team and a candidate for this year's team, the recent Soviet boycott announcement has convinced me of one thing. I should have been a downhill skier' Thirteen Winter Olympics have passed without significant political demonstration while the Summer Olympics have increasingly become the target for political abuse.

One reason for this discrepancy has to do with the very size and importance of each of the Olympics. In numerical terms at least, the Winter Olympics pale in comparison to their summer sibling. Fewer athletes from fewer countries participate in few events. For many nations, the Winter Olympics simply do not carry the prestige of the Summer Games Ironically, this may be the Winter Olympics' saving grace Exactly because they are not a global media mega-event, the Winter Olympics avoid many of the political and commercial pressures that can turn an idealistic international sporting event into an ideological battleground. While some problems with nationalism and commercialism exist they are less numerous and threatening.

The Summer Olympics, on the other hand have become something quite different. They are not just another sporting event, but have become one of the most popular forums of international participation and recognition. The reason for this has to do with their visibility. The Summer Games have a global audience that cherishes the opportunity to see their country compete and perhaps win. In contrast, many people hear about the U.N. or similar forums only indirectly, and there are rarely clear-cut winners or losers. Consequently, and unfortunately, the business of these forums is often forgotten or completely overlooked by the masses.

The public appeal aspect of the Summer Olympics is not lost to governments of industry Governments participate in the Olympics in order to win international prestige and legitimacy, businesses in order to win international profits and markets. A certain degree of politics, nationalism, and commercialism is inevitable, but also tolerable. Here is why.

To take advantage of the commercial and political fruits of the Olympics governments and industry must first acquiesce and pay homage to the ultimate Olympic ideal they must participate.

By participating, for whatever reasons, a nation serves the Olympics ideal of bringing the athletes and nations, of the world together Attempts at political or commercial exploitation, however blatant and conniving are always subordinate to the broader goals and ideals of the Games. In the Olympics athletes and nations compete first and only secondly get a chance to peddle products or ideologies.

Clear illustrations came in the examples of the 1936 and 1972 Olympics, when the Nazis and Palestinian terrorists, respectively, sought to utilize the international prestige and attention accorded the Games to stage propaganda and terrorism. While their vicious actions will never be forgotten, these actors hardly garnered any lasting amount of prestige of legitimacy. Moreover, most people still remember these Olympics for the heroic performances of athletes like Jesse Owens, Mark Spitz, and Olga Korbut.

With the gradual recognition that participation in the Olympics does not provide an effective opportunity for political expression, nations bent on political manipulation of the Games have recently taken the opposite tack staying away are left particularly satisfied.

The failures of the 1956, 1968, 1976, and 1980 Summer Olympic boycott have merely underscored the popularity of the Games and the important attached by governments, businesses, and the public to participating in them. The Russians and all others should keep this crucial point in mind as far as the Olympics are concerned participation is everything, non-participation is a soon-forgotten memory. The spotlight of the Games exists only for those who take part Nothing short of cancellation or total disruption of the Games will shift this emphasis.

Unfortunately, these may be the outcomes of all these blundering attempts to subordinate the Olympics to matters of politics and principle. What sane nation would agree in advance to commit the enormous financial and administrative resources necessary to stage the games when the possibility of a boycott looms so large?

Reforms must be made to prevent the collapse of the Summer Olympics from the weight of their own political and commercial importance. Are they worth saving? Yes, indeed! Although the image and idealism of the Games have been greatly tarnished, they remain significant as an expression of international cooperation and individual courage. We can only hope that the leaders of Russia, the U.S., and other nations, seeing that the Summer Olympics cannot be manipulated for significant political gain, will leave them alone. Meanwhile their sidekick, the Winter Olympics, squeak on by content in and saved by their own limitations. While they may never play on as grand a stage as their summer counterpart, the Winter Olympics may prove a much longer running show.