Politicized

The International Olympic Committee prohibits symbols or signs with political messages. But in Paris, the more it suppressed free speech, the more it resonated. Fencer Olga Kharlan dedicated her bronze to her country Ukraine, its armed forces and athletes who could not compete in the Olympics or elsewhere because they were killed by Russia.

The IOC itself made its own political statement. It virtually banned Russia for invading Ukraine and Belarus for enabling the invasion. But since their athletes do not actively support the war, they were invited to compete as neutrals. Thus, 15 Russians and 17 Belarusians competed like they were from Switzerland.

Belarusian Ivan Litvinovich defended his gold in the trampoline gymnastics. He appeared loneliest on top of the podium. No uniform, no country, no flag, no national anthem. His gold did not even count for his country in the medal tally. Orphaned, but at least not by war, but by aversion to war.

The Taiwanese men’s badminton team won gold. But officials refused to raise their flag in deference to the one-China policy. It instead improvised a flag that ironically hoisted over China that lost the final.

Cindy Ngamba is the first refugee to win an Olympic medal. The boxer from Cameroon represented the Refugee Olympic Team created to bring world attention to the plight of refugees. Why they are stateless in a world of vastness is one of the greatest injustice on earth where everything should be shared by all regardless of birth circumstances.

But American Shelby McEwen and Kiwi Hamish Kerr refused to share Olympic glory. The high jumpers were tied for gold and given the option to share or break the tie. Both decided to jump-off, not to monopolize the golden podium, but to settle the question on who jumps the highest in the ultimate test that is the Olympics. In the end, Kerr won for New Zealand its first high-jump medal, a gold no less.

Their joint decision polarized the fans, some say they should have played it safe and shared the gold. Makes sense, but for life both will be haunted by what could have been. Olympics is about who is strongest, highest and fastest. Even the century dash gold for men was not shared by two men separated by five-thousandths of a second in the finish line.

Noah Lyles and Kishane Thompson leaned to a dead heat but not to a deadlock, 9,784s and 9.789s, respectively. It looked like Thompson pipped Lyles. But the Jamaican heir apparent to the greatest sprinter of all time finished slower than the brash American by a flap of a wing, an eternity in the 9-second race to the kingdom of fastest human.

Had the race been not electronically timed, no one would have known who won. The speed of a blink of an eye is invisible to the naked eye. Just as the glaring truth is unbelievable to an empty mind. That is why do not argue online. Your sanity is on the line.