August 14, 2008

Everything conspired to make the average viewer skeptical about the Olympic Games in China, or at least ambivalent. There were the months of protests leading up to the games, drawing attention to China’s suppression of Tibetan autonomy and support for the genocidal regime in Sudan. There was the hype surrounding the event, and the impression that it was our patriotic duty to recoup NBC’s and its advertisers’ gazillion-dollar investment in the games.

But beyond the politics and the commercialism there are the sports themselves, with moments that have a way of transcending the mishegas that surrounds them. One such moment was the United States’ stunning victory in the Men’s 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay. In the foreground was swimming phenom Michael Phelps’ quest for a record gold medal hall. But the backstory was equally intriguing. In addition to Phelps, the team included two Jews, Garrett Weber-Gale and Jason Lezak, and an African-American from Irvington, Cullen Jones. Weber-Gale and Lezak reminded us of one of the few happy memories from the 1972 Olympics, where Mark Spitz triumphed, while Jones shattered stereotypes about blacks and swimming. Lezak’s come-from-behind sprint and lunging final touch was a wonder to behold.

Such accomplishments can’t blot out the real world, and reports on Russia’s assault in Georgia brought us as low as the swim team brought us high. But every now and then, sport has the capacity to pierce the gloom.

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