Over the past weeks, news of Olympic tragedy spread throughout the sporting world and beyond. Growing up, the Olympics always seemed so prestigious and the athletes so untouchable. However, now it seems that both of those previous assumptions have come tumbling down and been proven untrue. The Olympics were sadly never as respectable and unchangeable as was thought, and even the best of the world’s athletes are not immune to mistakes.
For the first time in modern Olympic games history, which dates back to 1896, a sport that dates back thousands of years has been cut from the 2020 Olympics. The news came out last week as the International Olympic Committee made the choice that surprised everyone outside of the IOC; wrestling was chosen as the sport to drop. The short list of sports that were up for consideration of elimination included field hockey, taekwondo and the modern pentathlon, none of which have the history, reach or participation levels that wrestling has. After dropping wrestling, the committee announced the modern pentathlon would take its place. The Pentathlon had athletes from only 26 countries in London; 71 countries were represented in wrestling in London; lowering what the committee calls the standard of universality as less and less countries are being represented across the board.
The IOC’s decision came as a total surprise to many seasoned viewers of the Olympics. Many viewers are in an uproar over the fact that the basis of tradition in the Olympics is being compromised as the sport of wrestling defines Olympic tradition.
The Olympic experience will change worldwide in 2020. But for the country of South Africa, the Olympic tragedy hits much closer to home.
In the London Olympics, South African runner Oscar Pistorius broke through an Olympic barrier that many thought impenetrable. The double-amputee athlete became the first Para-Olympic runner to compete in the able-bodied Olympics as he also became a national hero in South Africa.
The fairy tale soon turned nightmare however, as last week Pistorius shot his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp. Originally Pistorius claimed that he thought Steencamp was an intruder, but the courts last Friday charged Pistorius with premeditated murder. Pistorius could be heard sobbing within the courtroom once the charges had been read, and his family continues to deny the charges as they released a statement disputing them. While the trial of Pistorius is still far from over, it is still a reminder to many Olympic viewers and beyond just how truly human athletes really are.
