64.205 Values Aims Reality of the Modern Olympic Games
being a summary of a sociological documentary and experimental analysis, published under the above title with summary in English and French) by Karl Hofmann (about 400 pp) 7060 Schorndorf near Stuttgart, 1964, and written
by Hans Lenk, Assistant Prof. of Philosophy at the Technical University of Berlin. Carl Diem Prize Winner for Scientific Work on Sports 1961/62. Gold medallist for rowing eight at Rome Olympic Games 1960. Twice "Silver Laurel Leaf" laureate.
In 1960 the mass communication media of many countries paid far more attention to the Olympic Games than hitherto. In Germany several cultural critics adopted a sharply polemic attitude. They talked of an "idiotic record factory and the organisation of a super business in which only a fool could perceive the existence of a humanistic ideal" (Andersch). But these negative views met very positive ones. Americans and Russians embraced each other. Sportsmen of various nations, races and cultures overcame these stupid prejudices. For the duration of the Games they "were drawn closer together as human beings" (Breidbach-Bernau).
Such strongly contradictory judgements urgently demanded a scientific clarification. Rough black and white outlines have to give way to more exact analysis. Apart from a purely statistical descriptive analysis of the 1952 Games and some short articles, there has been no comprehensive work on the important phenomenon of the Olympic Games as a whole. To meet this long-felt need - that was the task. The results of the work are being printed and I shall now describe them to you briefly.
Research material was provided by the official documents of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and other Olympic organizations, reports, statistics, discussions and questionnaire interviews together with my own experiences. All this material at the disposal of a single author - while still inadequate - demanded the application of other methods, in particular systematic questioning and observation with the aid of a research team ...
We cannot cover in detail the more than 30 Olympic aims and values dealt with in the book. Those dealt with are: the values or religious-cultural import, the festive, artistic, and spiritual planning of the Games, the creation of a sporting elite, the performance ideas, the equal starting position for those taking part in the Olympics and in qualification competition, the Agon, fair play, the ancient idea of an unarmed truce during the Games and the movement's concept of its peaceful mission. Similarly the aims of making the movement international and independent, free from foreign influence (both political and commercial) and the desire to give the Games the particular character of the country in which they were being held; the concept of amateurism and the Olympic claim of sweeping aside all cultural, racial, national, religious and social barriers and uniting all forms of sport on an equal footing at Olympia. Furthermore, the ancient meaning of the Games in relation to their modern form and the idea of regulating sporting life by looking towards the Olympic Games periodically, also the beneficial effects of the example of the Olympic competitors and the incentive provided by the possibility of taking part in the Games.
Many representatives of the Olympic movement combine these values together to form a picture of the human being harmoniously balanced intellectually and physically in the sense of the Greek GGGGGGGG. Thus Coubertin's "Olympic Idea" is directed towards an educational programme in which physical culture is schooling for chivalry, intellectual-physical perfection and aestheticism.
But when one contemplates the manifold meanings of the "Olympic Idea" one finds no uniform, clearly definable basic concept. In general, the many interpretations - even when divorced from the educational ideal associated with the Olympic Games - range from "the task of sport", being to convince the culturally leading class in society of physical exercise to the concept of amateurism which is the "core of the Olympic Idea". Many people erroneously regard the "Olympic Idea" as the most basic value in the achievement of friendly international relations. - The result of this multiplicity of interpretations is that the term "Olympic Idea" is a vague one ...
Let us consider a few important Olympic values so that we may discuss one or two items in detail.
Cultural - Religious Values and Festivity
Coubertin deliberately adopted the religious significance from the ancient Games. The main feature of the Olympic Idea is that in the new era, too, it forms a religion: a "religio athletae". The sportsmen take the basic values - such as fair play - very seriously, and take an oath (now a "promise") of ethical and social discipline. This "religiousness" is not necessarily linked with the Deity. It is secularised and thus differs from the ancient oath which was sworn before Zeus. Diem, too, regards the festive side of the Games as religious or, perhaps better, "quasireligious". The recurring sameness of the opening ceremony with the lighting of the Olympic Flame and the oath, the honouring of the victors with a fanfare and the march of all the participants are expressions of the basic quasireligious idea. Last "The Protocol. It is the Olympic 'bible'," writes Henry.
A wreath of symbols and symbolic acts give the Games their character and reflect a tradition which goes down through time ...
The Contribution of Art and the Intellectual Life
"Olympic Games are not only festivals of muscular strength; they are also intellectual and artistic," declared Coubertin. Art and intellect should also give the modern games the "Eurhythmie" of the festival. Sport and art, sport and festival should fructify each other reciprocally. This is essential from the pedagogic standpoint. "Set alone sport goes astray." (Diem)
How are art and the intellectual life to interpose themselves into the Games?
In the Olympic art competitions one honours works having a sporting theme. Many distinguished artists took part in the competitions or sat on the jury. In 1936 all the previous winners of Olympic art competitions were invited to the ceremony honouring that year's winner. Thus eminent artists retained their connections with the Olympic movement.
In 1949 the IOC changed the "Pentathlon of the Muses" to an art exhibition; in 1950 they confirmed their decision; they reintroduced the competition in 1951 and abolished it again in 1954. These decisions reflect the uncertainty of the IOC and the peculiar reason given by the IOC President: Artists are not amateurs and are therefore excluded from the Games. But one allowed them to exhibit their works at the Games. The connection between sporting themes and abstract or musical works is difficult to distinguish and examine. But the abolition of the art competitions did serious harm to the aims set by Coubertin. Many protests have been made since 1949.
According to Coubertin the Festival itself should be run on artistic lines, especially through the native culture of the host nation. Cultural festivals, dances, gymnastic displays, art exhibitions, historical tournaments and sporting events, theatrical performances etc. are interposed into the Games. Since 1952, however, there have been no dancing or gymnastic displays.
Since 1936 sport congresses have been unofficially attached to the Games. Scientific works are also a part of the intellectual life. But apart from a few historical, statistical and sports-medical investigations there are hardly any scientific works at all on the games. Today's prevailing image of sport and the Games hardly attracts the collaboration of the intellectual world. - For the most part the academic elite remains stolidly indifferent or indulges in heated, often ill-considered polemics.
The newly-founded Olympic Academy has a special task: it is to safeguard and extend the cultural heritage of the Olympics as well as analyse them scientifically and ensure that new young leaders are forthcoming for the Games. Growth of the social prestige of the Olympic movement will bring increased cooperation from the intellectual world.
Records and Competition
Coubertin was a "metaphysicist of competition". For him records were an important basic element of the Games. Pedagogically he justifies this because of the example set and the value of self-perfection.
But the evaluation itself produces contradictions: Coubertin on the one hand, quotes the "Citius, altius, fortius" of Father Didon as the Olympic slogan while on the other he quotes the Bishop of Pennsylvania's comment on the Games, "The important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part".
Ritter von Halt considers that this sentence no longer applies to today's Games. Coubertin formulated it only in order to maintain the numerical size of the Games ...
I can only make brief reference here to the improvement of performance at the Games, to comparison of performance and measurement. All this describes one of the most important basic values of the Games but is also characteristic of all competitive sports and is not therefore specifically Olympic. In order to assess the increase of performance without using figures one thinks of the first Marathon victor, Louis, who interrupted his race for fifteen minutes to drink a glass of wine ...
The fanatical urge to be in the forefront, and nationalistic exaggeration of value sometimes lead to exaggeration of the importance of peak performance so that health is damaged or irregular means are utilised.
There are many Olympic victors who have won despite physical handicaps.
Internationalism and Nationalism. The So-called "Understanding between the Nations"
According to Coubertin the Games give the nations periodically recurring opportunities to get to know and respect each other. National feeling is not perniciouys but it must be supplemented by a sincere sense of world citizenship.
When people meet frequently, without the restrictions which authority imposes on them, they probably develop friendly feelings towards each other (Homans). This insight led to the construction of the Olympic Villages ...
The sportsmen are still accommodated according to nationality, which reduces the opportunity for international contacts. The man to man contacts in the Olympic organisations also overcome national restrictions such as in this International Olympic Academy. But in no way can one speak of "understanding among the peoples". Only representative groups meet together. Nevertheless these meetings have far-reaching effects among the general public of the countries taking part. They can even reduce national prejudice. After World War I the USA gave the "sporting" Finnish people a state loan as a result of their Olympic successes.
External influences are felt far more: In particular when an organising committee, contrary to the rules of the IOC, does not invite an Olympic team for political reasons. In 1920 the USSR and Germany were not invited and in 1948 Japan, Israel and Germany. Again and again flag and representational dangers threatened the Games. If the Games are regarded as the symbol of an ideological struggle and the participants are given state support in their "social task", the rules of the movement are broken. Such tasks may lead to odd extremes as that by the Olympic athlete Probadnik who stated: "I run for the working people". The opportunities for increased understanding between the sportsmen are restricted in several ways. The Games have become so vast, the athletes' time and strength so taken up by the demands of training and competition that only a few meetings lead to lasting friendships extending over national frontiers.
The Games continue to grow. Organisational requirements, however, demand that their size be limited. This prevents the extension of participation and meetings to the extent demanded by the Olympic mission. There is a great gap between values and means. Coordination problems arise for which there are no best solutions. The Olympic movement has again and again to fight for new compromises in a situation like that.
"All Games" - Community of All Forms of sport
"All games - all nations" declared Coubertin, as the most important basic principle. All sports should have equality at the Games. Nevertheless Coubertin inconsistently places team sports after individual sports.
The Olympic programme includes forms of sport which are extensively played in 25 countries. With an average of 17.4 forms of sport the Games correspond to the goal set by Coubertin.
To ensure that sportsmen of various types meet together all venues of competition should be as near as possible to the main stadium.
The present day cooperation of the amateur sports associations dates back to the Olympic Games: Only a National Olympic Committee reorganised by the IOC can send an Olympic team. Without the pace-maker of the IOC the over-all organisation of sport would hardly have come about. But the individual interests of the associations are often opposed to the "All games" ideal. The sportsman-gymnast struggle, for example, was only gradually overcome.
Many forms of sport such as table tennis, gliding and women's team games are not recognised by the Olympics even though they are played in more than 25 countries.
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Comprehensive investigation of the system of Olympic values leads to the following conclusions:
There has been no essential change in the Olympic value concepts since the beginning of this century. (Strictly speaking, it is this continuity that enables one to speak of the one structure of aims and values.) The constancy of values furthered the smooth continuity of the movement and its adhesion to the aims.
How does this system as a whole resist the demands of reality?
1. The aims achieved, at least partially, exceed those still unachieved by 28:8. Even the number of the fully achieved ones exceeds those only barely achieved.
2. The Olympic values may be placed in groups according to their content: values of religious commitment, of the perfecting of one's self, of social contacts, concepts of the harmonious synthesis of principal ancient and modern tendencies, of the independence of the Olympic movement and the concept of the Games as a means of national education. With the exception of the "religious sense" these six main values of the system, which are more comprehensive than their subordinate values - have all been realised, at least in part. (If one interprets "religious sense" in the widest terms as true self-dedication through the Olympic oath - now: promise - then this value, too, has been largely achieved.) Since this system did not build itself around these fundamental values without some degree of arbitrary arrangement greater importance is attached to the following results:
3. Despite their manifold and accommodating character, despite ambiguity and contradiction, and notwithstanding the obstacles which stand in the way of realisation, the Olympic values still arrange themselves in a proper closed structure which is absent in many other systems of values: in essence they group themselves in an algebraic "lattice", as the mathematicians would call it. This structural unity should not be over-estimated ...
4. Of the nine "star goals", which are placed in a special position because of their intimate connection with many other Olympic values, only two were barely realised ("the ancient meaning" and the participation of art and the intellectual life), five having been achieved to a very high degree ...
5. All values "manifestly decisive" for the social system are at least partially realised, except for the idea of an unarmed truce (GGGGGG). The Olympic movement cannot enforce this idea.
6. Aims directly connected with the form which the Games take and expressly laid down in rules are all "manifestly decisive" and have, in the main, been largely achieved (9:4).
7. The central core of the "decisive" performance values (including fair play and equality of chances) which fundamentally mould the Games comprises only goals which have been almost completely achieved.
One cannot deny the conflicts which the Olympic movement is struggling to overcome nor must the scientist minimise their significance. They prevent the members of the movement from putting many an idea of theirs into practice. Nevertheless: The majority of the Olympic aims and basic values have been largely realised. Sportsmen, team officials and Olympic organizers do, in the main, achieve to a high degree those aims which occupy focal points in the field of values. Thus the Olympic Games, despite the voices of the cultural critics already mentioned, fulfil their purpose and must be continued.