The Olympic Games have not long been uniting the people. As you know, the Olympic Games organizer of our century and ideologist, French historian and educator, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, has a beautiful ode dedicated to the sport. This poem summarizes the meaning of the Olympic Games, in the way as the Baron was understanding them. Most popular are the last four lines of the ode, “O Sport, you are Peace!”, according to which, the sport brings people closer, help establishing friendly relations between people of different nations. Contrary to Coubertin’s desire, today, sport is a part of politics of different states and superstates, in particular. It became more salient when the United States and some Western countries boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics, and, in response to it, the Soviet Union with its satellites boycotted the 1984 Olympic games in Los Angeles. Recently, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the people boycotting the Sochi Olympic Games (the states, fortunately, do not boycott) “short-sighted”. And it’s true, within the pure political logic, you boycott us, tomorrow, we boycott you. There is no country in the world, whose regime cannot “be found an excuse” to boycott the Olympic Games.
Putin has also developed this notion stating that the Olympic Games are becoming the subject of anti-propaganda because they are areas of competitive fight, of course, referring to the non-sports competition. Generally, let’s be honest. What is left from the biggest sports tournament in the sport? Baron de Coubertin was noting in the aforementioned ode, O Sport, you are pleasure, you are giving happiness to the existence of our soul and body. You are the architect, you are making our body balanced, you are Justice, you bestow impartial value to human power and suppleness, you are the challenge, you help to overcome obstacles. You are nobleness, because you are preaching moral values, you are void of backstage fight, you are Joy, your achievements inspire many. So was thinking Pierre de Coubertin. Tell me please, which of his statements is topical today. None, because his thoughts were about amateur sports. And the professional, international level sport is a business, also politics; the talented athletes (often accepting different harmful roles for results) attracted there are tireless soldiers of this fight, and human harmonious development is not their priority. For this very reason, the last Olympics, which I follow, are already mentioned the Moscow Olympic games, with their exciting closure. The Sochi Olympic Games are opened; they say that it was much more luxurious, technologically equipped show. I have not seen, I spared my time. But I believe that it was a good one, despite the ill-wishers. A week ago, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs visited the region. They were promised in Baku not to open fire in the direction of Armenia and Artsakh border during the Olympic Games. “For the sake” of Putin. O Sport, you are a ceasefire.
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
