Orville Taylor | Olympic values

That the Olympics are about excellence and being the best in one’s event is not in question. However, there are two other values of Olympics, which are: respect and friendship. These two are really not that different, because the very essence of friendship is taking the place of the other and treating such persons the way in which we wish to, or should be treated.

The Olympics movement speaks to respect as an underlying principle of being universal. Therefore, there is of course the respect for oneself and the public, but most importantly, the rules. The Olympics are a blueprint for life and larger social interactions in this world, because as long as there is unanimous acceptance that there are binding guidelines and standards; then there ought to be peace and harmony. Thus, the inherent value of the games is about competing and resolving differences via agreed mechanisms. Indeed, sociologists such as African American Harry Edwards draw analogies between war and sport, with the latter being the acceptable forum for expressing national pride.

CANNOT LOSE HUMANITY

As exciting as the games are, with the lasting impact on national victory and pain, we cannot lose our humanity for bragging rights whether personal or national. We cannot dehumanise ourselves to such a point that we create a platform of hostility and even xenophobia, racism and hatred. Against the background of fairness, one has to mitigate one’s judgement regarding the happenings of the past few weeks.

Like every other Jamaican, the loss of the gold medal to Noah Lyles is as painful as the effects of eating too much starch and drinking no water. Yes! For the next four years at least, the world has to accept that this young man is the Olympic champion in the 100 metres and our heir apparent, Kishane Thompson, lost by the narrowest of margins. Given his boast of being the ‘world fastest man’ and the fact that he represents the core of the American challenge to us, it is understandable that we all wanted him to lose.

But, answer one simple question. What did this young man do that would make any Jamaican hate on him? He was perfectly justified when last year, attacking American national parochialism, declared that NBA athletes and others in their domestic leagues were not ‘world champions’. How soon we forget, just months ago, he was at a press conference and in multiple appearances, wearing Jamaican colours, supporting his girlfriend, and importantly, demonstrating respect for our island nation. His mother, Yes! and let that soak in, wore the Jamaican flag on her fingernail in support of a young woman who represents another country and is in a conjugal relationship with her son. Junelle Bromfield is not her daughter-in-law, either by marriage or the minimal standard imposed by the courts.

This young man did what many Jamaican men have never done; took this girl home to mother. Beyond that she acted as daily chauffeur for this athlete from another nation, running against her own countrywomen. Many Jamaicans would never think of doing that and certainly would ‘bun fire’ on any such attempts.

Keisha Caine Bishop does for free what all our track and field clubs do for large sums of money.

COCKY

Lyles is cocky and he talks the talk. But generally, the one way of shutting up a cocky man is to simply beat him. ‘Puss and dog’ must have the same luck. He has never, however said anything disrespectful about Jamaica, or Jamaican athletes, or even done anything to demean anyone from this country, as far as I know. In fact, much of the complaints of mistreatment to our patriotic representatives on the track and in the field, are about their own countrymen and officials.

True, he is ‘long-tongued’ both figuratively and literally; because he brought pillow talk to the public. However, being a tattletale or some other linguistic Jamaican variant; he said nothing designed to humiliate us all this country.

Mark you, I am still very upset that he won the 100 metres, but even there, the arguments must be tempered. Jamaica has a long history of split and even dubious decisions in track and field. Merlene Ottey has been on the faecal end of the stick twice against Gail Devers; at the 1993 World Championships, where they shared 10.82 and three years later at the Atlanta Olympics in 10.94. Even today, I am convinced from the images, that Ottey did not lose. Going back to 1952, Jamaican super athlete Herb McKinley lost the same 100 metres to American Lindy Remigino; my opinion is that Herb won.

Still, it is easy to build a narrative over these results in the modern era and completely forget, that we have also benefited from these slender margins. Painfully, Rasheed Broadbell lost the silver in the 110 hurdles on Thursday, clocking the same time as the person who finished before him. Just last year, at the World Athletics Championships, Oblique Seville ran 9.88 for fourth, the same time as Letsile Tebogo ran for silver. Thompson’s razor thin loss to Lyles was simply that; a loss.

Moreover, who remembers that when Elaine Thompson won her first Olympic gold in 2016, ‘Pocket Rocket’, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce,beat Marie Jose Ta Lou by three thousandths of a second, with them being credited with the same time?

In 2007, Veronica Campbell Brown (VCB) edged Lauryn Williams for gold. Honestly, I thought that VCB had lost. Nonetheless, they both were timed at 11.01.

Fact is, when you want to defeat a champion, you must whip him soundly as Tebogo did to Lyles on Thursday in the 200 metres. Understandably, Lyles was ill, but we can pull myriad examples of champions losing in similar fashion. Anyway, given that it was COVID-19, there are other issues regarding responsibility.

Finally, let us be fair to our own. At press time, only two countries won more track and field medals at these games than Jamaica and we were third on the placing tables.

Hosts France had goals but no golds. Be grateful.

Dr Orville Taylor is senior lecturer at the Department of Sociology at The University of the West Indies, a radio talk-show host, and author of ‘Broken Promises, Hearts and Pockets’. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and tayloronblackline@hotmail.com