Living Up to the Olympic Creed

Dibussi Tande

I just watched bits and pieces of the closing ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics on TV. From an organizational stand point, the Italians have everything to be proud of. But these games lacked the passion and drama of the 2002 Salt Lake City games. In fact, the most memorable event of the 2006 games was the doping scandal involving the Austrian team. Here in the United States, Bryant Gumbel’s putdown of the Winter Olympics on HBO generated more passion than the performance of any athlete in Turin, and virtually started a mini race war.

In fact, the Olympic ideal of  creating “a way of life based on the joy found in effort, the educational value of good example and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles" was seriously tested during these games. As the Tallahassee Democrat put it, the games were characterized by “spoiled, selfish athletes turning in subpar performances; a panoply of fake ‘sports' inserted into the schedule…”

As I watched the closing ceremonies, I could not help but think about the different atmosphere that prevailed four years ago during the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. The Salt Lake games were much different -- at least from the perspective of someone with only a passing interest in Winter games. Those games had a handful of participants who symbolized the best of the Olympic ideal; athletes from the tropics whose presence in Salt Lake defied convention and logic. These were athletes from countries such as India, Venezuela, Kenya, Ethiopia, Nepal and Costa Rica whose dreams of an Olympic medal were, to quote one report, “as farfetched as space travel did a hundred years ago”.

The most famous of Salt Lake’s improbable participants was none other than Isaac “the Ice King’ Menyoli, “Cameroon's first and most probably last cross-country skier, or Winter Olympian”. Menyoli, an architect resident in Milwaukee, USA, had never seen snow before he came to the  United States in 1993, and his Olympic dreams began when he watched Kenya’s Phillip Boit take part in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

Unlike his American and European counterparts, Menyoli did not have big name sponsors and had to train on dry land for two hours each day after work. He was not only determined to take part in, and successfully complete, the 10km classical cross-country, he also wanted to use his "15 minutes of fame" to bring attention to the problem of AIDS in his native Cameroon: "When I acquired the talent in the United States for this sport, I wanted to use it to open new doors, to help my people."

People around the world watched as Menyoli proudly marched with the Cameroonian flag into the opening ceremonies. And the world media was at hand again to cover his memorable performance in the 10km classical cross-country at Soldier Hollow. Menyoli finished last, exactly 19 minutes 33 seconds behind winner Johann Muehlegg of Spain. As he glided through finish line, an ecstatic Menyoli raised his arms in triumph.

According to the Olympic creed which is attributed to Baron Pierre de Coubertin,

The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.

Menyoli, more than any other athlete present in Salt Lake, gave meaning to that creed. In this respect, he was a winner even though he did not go home with a medal. His victory was that of the spirit, of rugged determination and of perseverance. He won the hearts of millions by giving his best – something that some celebrity athletes like Bodie Miller failed to do in Turin.

Although Menyoli was not present in Italy, the fallout of his performance in Salt Lake four year earlier was very evident; there was a record 12 participants from Africa in Torino. That these athletes were not treated as oddities, and not given the kind of media coverage that Menyoli had in 2002 showed how far Menyoli’s participation had changed the perception of the games as a purely Euro-American affair.

For his achievement, the Ice King from the slopes of Mount Fako in Cameroon will forever be an Olympic pioneer and legend.

winter-olympicsskiingTorinocameroon

Comments

[Peter Ngwa]

Wow, I must admit that I completely missed this historic event back in 2002. Sorry:-) I just read an interview that Menyoli gave to Time Magazine and I am impressed. The interview is online at: http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,199261,00.html

[Blackjack]

The important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning http://www.enterbet.com
but taking part. The essential thing in life is not
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Baron de Coubertin
The Olympic Creed

Failure is only postponed success as long as courage
"coaches" ambition. The habit of persistence is the habit
of victory.

Herbert Kaufman

"The most powerful factors in the world are clear ideas in
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J. Arthur Thomson

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Marcus Aurelius Antoninus