“The Olympic Spirit is
neither the property of one race
nor of one age.”
-Pierre de Coubertin
The Tokyo summer Olympics are fast approaching, and the vibrant, interlaced rings are flashing throughout the media. The multi-colored circles of the Olympic symbol connote wholeness with interlocking continuity. These symbols unite all in universal fundamental principles, as Olympism exalts a balanced and interdependent whole of body-mind-spirit. Dating back hundreds of years BC, the ancient Olympians were not just athletes, but a family of gods. In the likeness of these mythical beings, Olympians exemplified the philosophical ideal of perfect body-mind-spirit, instilling a holistic pursuit of god-like human excellence, or “arete”. Modern Olympics preserve this ancient goal of holistic excellence, developed through a way of life committed to physical, emotional and spiritual development dating all the way back to the athletic competitions of Ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians.
Sports provide opportunities for cultivating and celebrating the same virtues that enable us to excel in all of life’s meaningful challenges. Athletic participation tests us against ourselves and our peers as part of a universal drive to achieve ever-higher levels. Medals are incentives for the cultivation of such excellence, but these rewards are not the ultimate reason for competition. Nor is the goal simply to beat your competitor, but to test and to celebrate the magnificence that the contests elicit. Sports push us to reach higher towards the divine realm of perfection, just as the Greek athletes honored their gods by displaying their best.
Olympism also promotes awareness of our imperfections in contrast to the divine ideal, and encourages a desire to test oneself against the ideal. To be an athlete is to seek perfection while acknowledging our own imperfections. Even the world’s most elite athletes are sometimes disappointed with a record-breaking performance when striving to approximate an even greater excellence. For many of us, sports provide our first experience with conceptualizing an ideal and measuring ourselves against these role models. Often the ideal begins as a champion athlete we admire, then evolves beyond a particular person to a more abstract vision such as the perfect performance that motivates us to train, compete, and strive for our goals.
Although our victories may be accompanied by glory and distinction, those rewards are not the true objects of our endeavors. The true goals of competitive striving in sport are intangible rewards through which we discover our aspirations and greatest capabilities, and the capacities of humanity itself. We invent sports to demonstrate physical prowess, such as kicking a ball into a net, kayaking through raging rapids, or surfing the perfect wave. In ancient Greece, the motivation for athletics was based on a spiritual pursuit of “aretē”, the magnificent perfection of the Greek deities. If we can see sports again as a spiritual endeavor, we can reawaken and cultivate this ancient connection. With determination and rigorous training, athletes dream of winning an Olympic medal, participating in the Olympic games, or achieving the pinnacle of perfect physique of an Olympic athlete. Whether your destined for the Summer Games, or just trying to achieve your personal best, all can benefit from striving to achieve the greatest athletic prize of all: the virtuous soul of an Olympian!
