The Politic Games

Originating from the great religious festivals that brought together people throughout the Greek world, millions of people have attended the Olympic Games and over four billion people throughout the world watch the Olympics on television. At the last Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, more than six thousand athletes from seventy-one different countries competed. An endless amount of spectators and participants are involved, regardless of the international event. These multi-sport competitions are becoming less of a platform to demonstrate athleticism and more of a platform to express political views regarding ethics and human rights.

Politics has played a tremendous role in sporting events, and this is simply due to the enormous relationship sports has to human rights and ethics in our society. A large number of people have become engaged in the most important athletic competition in the world, the Olympic Games, that the competition is now fully politicized. At the most recent Olympics, ten thousand five hundred athletes, seven thousand five hundred team officials, and three thousand technical officials came from two hundred and three countries to London in 2012 for the Summer Games. This competition has evolved since the ancient Olympics that were founded by Heracles, son of Zeus and Alcmene, held at Olympia in western Greece back in 776 B.C.. Although the competitions still have competitive qualities and winning athletes won a kotinos (an olive wreath) instead of a medal, the evolution of the incorporation of politics took place due to the large increase in the number of people associated with this event.

The motto of the Olympics, Citius, Altius, Fortius are Latin words that can be defined as Swifter, Higher, and Stronger....

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...g, the attention in the last couple of weeks has been focused on the Russian anti-homosexual legislation. Countries have already made statements about their dissatisfaction with this law.

The Olympic games have always been marked by politics as much as sports for reasons involving the promotion of human rights and ethics, or the denial of human rights and ethics. However, the Commonwealth Games, formerly known as the British Empire Games, are special. They were first held in Hamilton, Ontario in 1930, with three values that realistically portray the essence of an international multi-sport festival held these days; Humanity, Equality and Destiny. These are the values that will forever unite millions of people, since competitions are no longer solely about athleticism, but about what the world leaders promote or deny in the face of humanity, equality, and destiny.