The parade of 204 nations stepped along swiftly at the
opening ceremonies of the Olympics. I
was pleased that after each commercial, NBC “caught us up” with those we might
have missed during the breaks . It was
not always so. Sometimes smaller nations do not matter. Of those proud delegations that entered, 81
have never won a medal of any kind. But
they were there! Large nations with hundreds
of athletes and island nations with two.
The proportions vary by the season, of course. The Scandinavian numbers
swell during the Winter Games and countries in warmer climates come out for
these. But they were there! The
challenge to the powerful is to know--to learn--the names and cultures of those
still less recognizable.
The world is large, and, yes, smaller. An athlete is born in
one country, goes to school in another and trains in yet another. What is your home country? Have we crossed all boundaries? Yes, and no.
Wars and rumors of wars cannot be denied. Violence and
animosity are part of world realities. But still the nations were there. The
two Koreas did not march together this year as they had for a brief time in
past Olympics. Forty years ago was the tragic shooting at the 1972 Olympics;
today both Israel and Palestine marched in. A quiet moment of silence elsewhere
if not at the opening ceremony itself.
Pakistan, Iran, Syria, Egypt. Argentina and England. Cuba and the United
States both marched in, even though, after all these decades, barriers remain. Thailand, Timor-Lesta, Tonga, Trinidad-Tobago,
Tunisia (where the Arab Spring began.)
And Rwanda was there, the country torn apart by genocide now
rebuilding remarkably through respect and collaboration. Today it is the only
nation in the world with a female majority in Parliament and 1/3 or its mayoral
posts held by women.
For the first time every country had women athletes as part
of their delegations. Forty years after
Title IX, this is a huge advance for the games. For some countries, this is no
small victory, and still, today, no small challenge for the ordinary lives of
women. The fact that the U.S.
delegation had more women than men—by a few—is less notable, not the goal in my
book. Full freedom for and partnership of women and men is the goal.
And, of course, I cannot comment on the role of women without mentioning Queen Elizabeth
herself. She grew up way before Title
IX. But she was “the good sport” of
the evening. Her James Bond arrival was
a surprise; her steadfast role was not. She was Princess Elizabeth during the
1948 London games, when the city was still much in rubble from WW II. She
herself as a teenager had served in the war as a driver. She became Queen only
four years after those games, leading the United Kingdom from Empire to a
Commonwealth of nations. She has always
been brave. Her leadership has helped
shape the world portrayed in this opening ceremony where large and small
nations respect and work together not to dominate and rule over, but to share
in mutual understanding for the welfare of all.
Her actual entrance, along with the Prince Phillip, was
followed by the singing choir of deaf and hearing children leading the national
anthem of the United Kingdom. I wondered
why the children were dressed in pajamas. It soon became clear as the next segment in
the ceremonies which took us from London’s agrarian to industrial to digital age,
highlighted the National Health Services and England’s contribution to
children’s literature! Doctors, nurses and children were center stage. Real life,
and yes, real contributions to the world!
The Para-Olympics will follow; however, people, with disabilities, including the
runner from South Africa, are also part of these games and ceremonies! When all are included, we all are stronger.
Which was people’s favorite part? I appreciated the eight chosen to carry the
Olympic flag: Doreen Lawrence, East London resident and community activist;
Sally Becker, volunteer relief activist for Bosnia and Kosovo; Ban Ki-Moon,
Secretary General of the United Nations; Haile Gerbrselassie, Ethiopian long
distance runner; Leymah Gbowee, Nobel Peace Prize recipient; Shami Chakrabarti,
director of Great Britain’s Council for Civil Liberties; Daniel Barenboim, orchestra
conductor who brings together Arab and Israeli young musicians, Marina Silva,
Brazilian environmental activist.
People loved the torch-lighting, a gathering of leaf-shaped
bowls accompanying each nation. Digital lights dimmed as people focused on fire
itself. Danny Boyle said he liked having the 500 construction workers who built Olympic
Park be the ones to welcome the torch .
People. Ordinary people, gathered together. Amazing! Unreal?
No; very real.
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