This weekend, the torch of the 20th Winter Olympics will be extinguished. Soon, Turin 2006 will be another Olympics for the history books. Hopefully the lessons we can learn from it will carry on much longer.
Like most people, I look forward to the Olympics. I've always thought the games have a unique quality to them. Is there any other thing in the world that can bring nations together in the midst of a conflict that engulfs the world?
Every two years, the world finds a way to put aside its differences for two weeks and focus on one city in the name of sport. We take our attention away from conflict in favor of competition that strives for tolerance, equality, fair play and peace. Even the universal symbol, the Olympic Rings, is meant to represent the unity among the five continents.
The official Turin 2006 Web site suggests that: "If we can have peace for 16 days, then maybe, just maybe, we can have it forever." With this thought in mind, the Turin Organizing Committee went to work with the dual objectives of "organizing successful Olympic Games, but also of contributing to a future of peace and dialogue between all the participating countries."
The sacred Greek tradition Ekecheiria, or truce, began in the ninth century and served as a cornerstone of the Olympic Games. Wars were suspended; armies were prohibited from threatening the events; legal disputes and carrying out death penalties were forbidden. The Truce was observed for 12 centuries, making it the longest lasting peace accord in history.
In 1992 and 1993, both the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the United Nations called upon member nations to observe the Olympic Truce, which has proved successful in Games since. In 1999, 180 United Nations member states co-sponsored a resolution in support of the Truce.
The Olympic Truce is not all-powerful, but it has been able to accomplish things the world never thought possible. Since the Truce was reestablished, no collective boycotts have been staged, and while the athletic competition has been fierce, politics have remained in the background of the games.
In 1992, athletes from ex-Yugoslavia participated in the Barcelona games, and they were allowed to wear uniforms showing only the Olympic Rings, rather than a national flag. In 1994, an IOC delegation visited Sarajevo, at the time under siege, to extend Olympic solidarity to the city that had hosted the Olympic Winter Games in 1984. In 1998, a delegation made up of IOC and United Nations used to the Truce to argue for a delay in a planned the bombing of Iraq.
In Sydney in 2000, the North and South Korean delegations walked together in the parade of nations under the same flag for the first time ever. They walked together again in Athens in 2004 and for the first time in a Winter Olympiad this year in Turin. Recently, the conflict-ridden countries agreed to compete together as one Korea in Beijing in 2008.
A record 80 nations are participating in the Turin Games, and for this brief moment, all 80 nations seem to be at peace with one another. This is the magic of the Olympic spirit that should give us all hope for the future.
The ability of nations to put aside their differences for the sake of fair play and unity, even for 16 days, signals hope for the possibility of progress.
Complete world peace is a highly idealistic goal. Is it possible? Realism says no - and I will not argue with reality. We live in a broken world, and it will always be broken to some degree.
But if we celebrate small victories, such as the power of the Olympic Truce, then maybe, just maybe, we can start repairing it one piece at a time.
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