The London Olympics and the social crisis

/pers-a04.shtml

  • JO JO2012 Jeux Olympiques Londres

    The London Olympics and the social crisis
    http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/aug2012/pers-a04.shtml

    4 August 2012

    The Olympic Games bring together the finest sportsmen and sportswomen in the world. No one who follows the various events can fail to be moved by the spectacular displays of athleticism and physical prowess of the competitors. The apparently superhuman character of their achievements is in reality proof of the contrary—the tremendous potentialities of the human race.

    Major sporting matches, however, are inevitably coloured by broader economic, social and political factors, and none more so than this, the premier global event. There has never been a “golden age” of the Olympics and there is no justification for doe-eyed complaints about the betrayal of the Olympics’ “ideals” and “spirit” at this late stage.