{"id":2730,"date":"2021-08-11T23:21:37","date_gmt":"2021-08-11T22:21:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/?p=2730"},"modified":"2021-08-11T23:21:38","modified_gmt":"2021-08-11T22:21:38","slug":"the-greatest-olympian-introduction-part-one-sporting-legacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/2021\/08\/11\/the-greatest-olympian-introduction-part-one-sporting-legacy\/","title":{"rendered":"The Greatest Olympian – Introduction (Part One) Sporting Legacy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Satish Sekar \u00a9 Satish Sekar (August 5th<\/sup> 2021)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Greatest?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The 32nd<\/sup> Olympic Games of the modern era is underway in Tokyo \u2013 nearing its end actually. It is the first to face the challenge of the Coronavirus Pandemic. The Olympic Games is now the greatest sporting event on earth \u2013 it wasn\u2019t always that way. But who is the Greatest Olympian and why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a matter of opinion, and I will give mine on the last day of the 32nd<\/sup> Modern Olympic Games, currently taking place in Tokyo. There is no shortage of candidates. Olga Korbut wowed the world in 1972 and Nadia Comaneci set new standards four years later. They revolutionised the sport of gymnastics. But despite acclaim for US gymnast, Simone Biles, as the greatest ever, even greater given her stance on mental health after being a high-profile victim of a paedophile, Larry Nassar, the top medallist in gymnastics the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics produced the record holder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Longevity, Consistency and Dominance<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Larisa Latynina with 18 \u2013 six in each Olympiad that she competed in between 1956-64. The octogenarian proudly boasts nine gold medals \u2013 the most of any gymnast female or male.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The late Al Oerter dominated the discus, winning four consecutive Olympic titles between 1956-68. Jesse Owens won four gold medals in Berlin\u2019s Olympic Games against a hostile environment. The late King of Sweden proclaimed Native American athlete, Jim Thorpe, \u2018the greatest athlete in the world.\u2019 Thorpe was stripped of his titles, against the rules of the Olympic Games. His medals were returned posthumously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark Spitz was a world record holder in 1968. He anticipated a huge haul of gold medals. He had targeted six in M\u00e9xico City\u2019s Olympic Games, but he disappointed himself, winning just two relay golds. His performance at the tragic Olympic Games in Munich remains unforgettable. He won seven gold medals to add to the two he won in relays four years earlier, matching Latynina\u2019s tally of gold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Human Rights and the Olympics<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Like South Korea twenty years later, M\u00e9xicans wanted political freedoms more than the Olympics. Both countries\u2019 military cracked down on dissent. M\u00e9xico City\u2019s Olympiad was marred by racism and human rights abuses and strong protests. Just before the Games, the Tlatelolco Massacre disgraced M\u00e9xico and the IOC whose controversial leader, Avery Brundage, misjudged the mood badly before and during the Games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Korea had protests too \u2013 the Olympics did not matter as much as freedoms and human rights. Such dissent was suppressed \u2013 in M\u00e9xico it was despicable, but now the performances and protests by athletes \u2013 good for them \u2013 have eclipsed a massacre delivered to bring the Olympic Games to a country that did not want the Olympic Games as much as they wanted basic rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The late Lee Evans not only broke the world record but stood up for human rights. His stand deserves respect too and not just in 1968 or M\u00e9xico. Evans campaigned for justice throughout his life. He stood tall for Africa, spending the last years of his life there with his good friend Nigerian footballer, the legendary Olusegun (Mathematical) Odegbami.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evans died last May. He is buried in Africa \u2013 his wish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tlatelolco Massacre complete, the powers the Games commenced \u2013 another of Brundage\u2019s appalling decisions, but it is remembered more for the athletes’ protests and superb performances than this despicable crime against humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lee Evans set a very impressive world record in the 400m but perhaps the greatest performance was Bob Beamon\u2019s incredible long jump world record stood for almost 30 years, defying Carl Lewis\u2019 efforts to crack it \u2013 Mike Powell eventually broke it, but it seemed unbeatable back in 1968.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some complained about the altitude \u2013 what about today\u2019s technology of specially designed shoes and tracks designed to produce faster times. How can records be compared now? How could they ever be?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 32nd Olympic Games of the modern era is underway in Tokyo \u2013 nearing its end actually. It is the first to face the challenge of the Coronavirus Pandemic. The Olympic Games is now the greatest sporting event on earth \u2013 it wasn\u2019t always that way. But who is the Greatest Olympian and why?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2730"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2730"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2730\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2731,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2730\/revisions\/2731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}