Every four years one of the most exciting things that happens is the Olympics. There is nothing like it. Over 10,000 athletes come from more than 200 countries to participate in over 300 sports and events. It takes the host country at least seven years to prepare for such an event!

“The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part.” At the forefront of the Olympic Creed is the emphasis on participation. As the Olympic symbol represents, the Olympics is about sporting friendship of all people. Each of the Olympic rings represents one of the five geographic areas of the world: Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Americas. With the white backdrop of the Olympic flag, each region is represented by a different color and intersected with the other rings symbolizing unity in diversity.

This year at the 2024 Paris Olympics the motto of “Games Wide Open” was adopted. The slogan represents the goal of providing a more responsible, inclusive, and equal games, especially following the 2020 Tokyo Olympics which were in the midst of the COVID pandemic.

Having the “Games Wide Open” means that not only Olympic powerhouse nations like the United States, China, Australia, Great Britain, and host France can medal but also that newer Olympic participants and smaller nations have equal opportunities to medal.

Paris Olympics 2024 did not disappoint. South Sudan, a country which only gained independence in 2011, qualified for its first-ever Olympic basketball tournament. Azerbaijan participated in the women’s 3x3 basketball tournament, marking the first time the country was represented in a team sport at the Olympics. Kaylia Nemour from Algeria made history when she became the first African to win an Olympic medal in women’s artistic gymnastics on uneven bars. Likewise, for the first time in history, Julien Alfred won a medal at the Olympics for the Caribbean country of St Lucia. These are just a few of Paris Olympics’ firsts. There are too many amazing stories to name them all here.

Among these, one heart-warming example of this year’s motto that came out of the Olympic games was the selfie taken by the mixed doubles table tennis players. After receiving the silver and bronze medals, table tennis athletes from North and South Korea posed for a selfie on the podium early on in the medal ceremonies. South Korean athletes were still sore from a major mishap when the Olympic Committee mistakenly announced their delegation as North Korea at the opening ceremony. They took so much offense to this grievous mistake that the International Olympic Committee issued an official apology.

But what the North Korean athletes did helped ease tensions. As the North Korean pair took the podium to receive their silver medal, they first greeted and congratulated the South Korean bronze winners by shaking their hands. Although this is common practice, many athletes choose not to greet the other medalists and just immediately step up to the podium. This intentional congratulatory greeting spoke volumes. Following gold-winner’s Chinese national anthem, the two Korean teams posed for a selfie, which later went viral as a history-making event.  

The goal of the Olympics is to contribute to building a peaceful and better world through practicing sports without discrimination. In this way, sports have become a vehicle in which to foster mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity, and fair play regardless of what side of the world one may come from. As the Olympic Creed ends, “Just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle, the essential things is not to have conquered but to have fought well.”

Let’s fight well for peace. Whether it is through sport, dialogue, or diplomacy, we can all remember that we are neighbors and fellow sojourners here on this earth. Pierre de Coubertin, the father of the modern Olympic Games, said it well, “The important thing is not to win, but to take part.” This is the essence of the Olympic spirit- athletes trying their best not solely for the goal of winning a medal but for the purpose of just finishing well.

Very few of us will have the privilege of being an Olympian. But we can all have the Olympic spirit. The game of life is wide open. Let’s do our part in contributing to a peaceful and better world.