THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 19, 1996 TAG: 9607190001
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: 71 lines
The names of Olympic towns scroll through our collective memory and haunt us. Recollections of winning, losing, good sportsmanship and unspeakable sorrow: Berlin, Innsbruck, Grenoble, Sapporo, Lake Placid, Sarajevo, Calgary, Munich, Barcelona, Lillehammer.
Now, finally, Atlanta.
Today is the official start of the 26th Olympiad - the 100th anniversary of the modern Olympic Games - and one wonders how these summer games will be remembered.
By the time the Olympics end on Aug. 4, will new heroes emerge to join the list of unforgettables? Will we meet more immortals like Sonja Henie, Jim Thorpe, Johnny Weismuller, Harold Abrahams, Jesse Owens, Dick Button and Bob Mathias in these next weeks? Will some now-obscure athletes be as familiar to us as Olympic superstars from more-modern times: Jean-Claude Killy, Peggy Fleming, Olga Korbut, Bruce Jenner, Torvill and Dean, Eric Heiden, Greg Louganis, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Mark Spitz, Mary Lou Retton, Katarina Witt?
It is impressive, really, to contemplate 10,000 athletes from 197 nations coming to Atlanta to compete in the Olympics. These men and women hail from around the globe, from countries separated as much by customs and language as by geography. The athletes communicate in many different tongues, but they all are fluent in the universal language of sport and competition.
The Olympians will compete in games from A to Y: archery to yachting, that is. There will be competition by professional athletes who make millions of dollars from their sports as well as by those whose devotion to their games has left them impoverished, whose families will be watching the games on television because they cannot afford to travel to Atlanta.
We wish all of the athletes success, especially the competitors from Hampton Roads whose single-minded dedication and skill have taken them to Atlanta.
Most of all, we trust that these games will be peaceful and fair - untainted by terrorism, drug abuse or cheating.
Let the games begin.
The names of Olympic towns scroll through our collective memory and haunt us. Recollections of winning, losing, good sportsmanship and unspeakable sorrow: Berlin, Innsbruck, Grenoble, Sapporo, Lake Placid, Sarajevo, Calgary, Munich, Barcelona, Lillehammer.
Now, finally, Atlanta.
Today is the official start of the 26th Olympiad - the 100th anniversary of the modern Olympic Games - and one wonders how these summer games will be remembered.
By the time the Olympics end on Aug. 4, will new heroes emerge to join the list of unforgettables? Will we meet more immortals like Sonja Henie, Jim Thorpe, Johnny Weissmuller, Harold Abrahams, Jesse Owens, Dick Button and Bob Mathias in these next weeks? Will some now-obscure athletes be as familiar to us as Olympic superstars from more-modern times: Jean-Claude Killy, Peggy Fleming, Olga Korbut, Bruce Jenner, Torvill and Dean, Eric Heiden, Greg Louganis, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Mark Spitz, Mary Lou Retton, Katarina Witt?
It is impressive, really, to contemplate 10,000 athletes from 197 nations coming to Atlanta to compete in the Olympics. These men and women hail from around the globe, from countries separated as much by customs and language as by geography. The athletes communicate in many different tongues, but they all are fluent in the universal language of sport and competition.
The Olympians will compete in games from A to Y: archery to yachting, that is. There will be competition by professional athletes who make millions of dollars from their sports as well as by those whose devotion to their games has left them impoverished, whose families will be watching the games on television because they cannot afford to travel to Atlanta.
We wish all of the athletes success, especially the competitors from Hampton Roads whose single-minded dedication and skill have taken them to Atlanta.
Most of all, we trust that these games will be peaceful and fair - untainted by terrorism, drug abuse or cheating.
Let the games begin. by CNB