SPORTS: The Olympics...the end
As in a theater, behind the stage were more prosaic things, such as an immense bike shop in the Olympic
Village. The bike of a Chilean competitor was stolen, and he could not find one that suited him among the
dozens there. Crisis! The bike was found; it sounded as though a ransom had been paid. As a result of the
soccer matches, fabulous sums were offered to the best players, giving rise to an argument about the ethics of
it. GOLD! in addition to GOAL!
The games affected a country's international prestige. The four big winners were the US, Russia, China and
Australia. Russia still seems to function. The US now appeared as the world's superpower in sports as well as
in political and military power. This created a quiet resentment among Latin Americans. Of the Latin American
countries, Cuba did best, enhancing its reputation among Latin Americans. By coincidence, a rating of
countries by corruption appeared at the same time. Several Latin American countries were unfortunately
among the "winners".
Most visitors from abroad saw the games and then went home. They did not get to know the real Australia,
which is not just a country of strange marsupials. I sent that great Australian Ron Bracewell the recent
supplement on Australia in The Economist. It shows that Australia is an astonishingly progressive country. The
same journal (9/23) has a supplement with a chart which gives a list of countries listed by PCs per population.
Leading the list are the US, Sweden, and Australia, ahead of the major European countries and Japan.
Australia is among the countries in which the internet is least expensive. Such indicators are far more important
that the pieces of gold, silver and bronze which record how fast individuals can run, jump, or whatever. And
without all that shouting.
Ronald Hilton - 10/01/00
People love a show, and the opening and closing of the Sydney were supershows. Global brotherhood reigned.
Oops, sorry about that "brotherhood". It should be "siblinghood." After the final show came the reveling. A
good time was had by all.
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