Denis Bright invites discussion of the significance of Marathon and Olympic Events in a Globalized Era. Are their limits to fitness generated diplomacy to promote international togetherness?
Aeons before recent corporate sponsored marathon and Olympic events, the legend of Pheidippides’ arrival in Athens from Marathon in 490 BC was incorporated into contemporary folklore about the high stakes competitive feats of endurance.
French artist Luc-Oliver Merson (1846-1920) reconstructed the arrival of Pheidippides as the classic diplomatic messenger in his acclaimed painting from 1869. In this reconstruction of historical myth, the brave Pheidippides ran back to Athens with a mix of good fortune at the Battle of Marathon and bad vibes about the forthcoming naval attack on Athens by the Persians. Noting the strategic redeployment of the Athenian Army, the Persians decided not to attack Athens.
The marathon as a metaphor for stoic endurance in the face of adversity had been created. In the Modern Olympics, Marathon events had a special significance. During the first modern Olympics, Spyros Louis (1873-1940) completed the marathon in just under three hours in 1896.
Cheering on Risk-Taking Fitness and Commitment
Forty years later Spyros Louis was guest of honour at the Berlin Olympics and marched at the head of the Greek men’s team as it entered the stadium.
Hitler was presented with an olive sapling from Olympia by Spyros Louis as a symbol of peace from his homeland (Pappas Post Online 2016). Soon Greece would be an occupied country.
Moves to boycott the summer Olympics in Berlin in 1936 gained some limited traction in the US.
Judge Jeremiah Mahoney, president of the Amateur Athletic Union, supported the boycott. He pointed out that Germany had broken Olympic rules forbidding discrimination based on race and religion. In his view, participation would indicate an endorsement of Hitler’s Reich.
The case for participating in the 1936 Olympics in the interests of international solidarity soon triumphed with support from the Roosevelt Administration in the US. Perhaps reason would also prevail through international solidarity towards the Olympic Movement.
Could Jesse Owens’ four track and field goal medals in Berlin challenge a host regime or even the US Homeland with its own commitment to racial superiority.
The irony of racial prejudice in the US Homeland was noted in a recent article in the Atlantic Online by Marina Koren (29 September 2016):
In 1936, 18 African American athletes left the Berlin Olympics with 14 medals, a quarter of the total medals won by the U.S. team that summer. They returned to a segregated United States, where the American public mostly celebrated their victories—but their president didn’t.
“Hitler didn’t snub me; it was our president who snubbed me,” said Jesse Owens, the 23-year-old track star who won four gold medals, of Franklin Roosevelt. “The president didn’t even send a telegram.”
The New York Marathon and the World Marathon Majors
The profiles of the Olympic Movement and a series of Global Network Major Events are so entrenched that attempts at political boycotts usually have limited traction, regardless of the situation.
The New York Marathon on 5 November 2017 with its 55,000 participants is a symbol of popular togetherness and fitness in action. Today’s events attract the patronage of major corporations.
The major sponsor of the New York Marathon is the Indian multinational firm, Tata Consultancy. It is supported by major sponsors under contractual arrangements which extend to 2021.
human capacity and endurance with a groundswell of community support.
Charities are supported by revenue from sweep-stakes as well as fund-raising by participating teams, corporate and community donations.
Exotic Lesser Known Marathon Events
Similar events have been held in most countries from underdeveloped locations to global political trouble-spots.
In the tall shadow of the Global Marathon Majors, participants have been asked to register for 2018 events with a long-standing history from the Econet Victoria Falls Marathon in Zimbabwe to Pyongyang Marathon in North Korea. Both events have generated their well-constructed Facebook Pages.
The Pyongyang Marathon on 8 April 2018 comes with a heavy price tag for registration and travel with Koryo Tours. However, the invitation is not without its subtle narcissistic appeal to overseas competitors.
“We are proud to present the 29th Mangyongdae Prize International Marathon – the Pyongyang Marathon – to everyone which will take place on Sunday April 8, 2018. You can again hit the streets of Pyongyang to run in the 10km, half or full marathon races. All races will start and finish inside Kim Il Sung Stadium in front of a crowd of 50,000 people cheering you on – it’s the closest experience to being in the Olympics!”
Australian athletes are quite able to participate in the Pyongyang Marathon but face a similar problem to Pheidippides’ mission to Sparta or the participation of Jesse Owens and Spyros Louis in the Berlin Olympics.
This account does not end in negativity about participation in global marathon events and Olympic venues.
In this new age of political intolerance, bringing nations out of political isolation from humanity, is still a risk worth taking.
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