Challenging the Olympic Ideals: Bodies, Exploitation, and Personal Agency?

Are We Watching the Right Games?

I did not watch the 2024 Olympics, nor the Paralympics for disabled athletes either.  After years of viewing the former, my memories are stocked with visuals—victors taking laps wrapped in national flags, podium ceremonies with flags and anthems rising. These linked to current headlines, photos, videotapes that popped up in morning news feeds.  And besides, I’m more interested in what it takes to get to those shining moments.  Probably goes back to growing up in baseball, but on the sidelines, and curious about what went on in “no girls allowed” dugouts and clubhouses/locker rooms.

Who Truly Gets to Compete

The modern Olympics started with a shining idea, bringing together the “best of the best” from around the world in friendly competition. The origin myth envisioned a boys’ club in the 19^th century ideal of “gentlemen amateurs,” who in the classic (and class-bound) definition, would compete not for gain, since they didn’t need to, but for love of the game/sport. (Wikipedia). But almost from the start, outsiders/interlopers who didn’t fit the ideal insisted on joining.  A scene in Chariots of Fire (1981) captured the push-pull.  Cambridge college masters chided the Jewish protagonist, well off, but not quite “the right stuff,” for hiring a professional coach to help him prep for the 1924 games. Unseemly, too much striving, they told him. Recognizing their anti-Semitism, he pushed back, calling them antique relics of a fading age. Yet the amateur myth persisted, despite pervasive proof/evidence that talent is unpredictable, randomly distributed, often emerges in athletes who need to earn a buck. And such “outsiders” often pay a price. The great Native American Jim Thorpe had his 1912 medals stripped for playing minor league baseball a few years earlier. The multi-sport Babe Didrikson [DATE?]  had her amateur status revoked after she appeared unpaid in a car company ad. The great African American Jesse Owens, though fames as the “Buckeye Bullet” at Ohio State, was never awarded a scholarship and had to work his way through college. His four 1936 gold medals discredited Hitler’s racist policies, but he later sometimes raced horses to help support his family. (Wikipedia).

Creating Space for Non-Traditional Bodies?

Women didn’t fit the original shining standard either. No “lady amateurs” competed the first year (1896). US women didn’t take part in the first swimming events (1912), because they couldn’t cover up in long skirts!  Not until 1928 were women allowed to run and jump. A photo shows the 100M women’s final that year.  With skirts shorter, they wear what appear to be billowy shorts (topendsports.com). The American Avery Brundage, dominant during his 20-year tenure as International Olympic Committee (IOC) president (1952-1972), had “well-publicized run-ins with female athletes.” And he didn’t shy away from displaying his prejudices. “You know, the ancient Greeks kept women out of their athletic games. They wouldn’t even let them on the sidelines. I’m not so sure but they were right.” He was known for suspicions of female athletes, suspecting that some were actually men in disguise. (Wikipedia). As for the disabled, I doubt they even entered anyone’s mind, being essentially invisible, unless as some kind of carnival freaks. And shouldn’t they just gracefully or not remove themselves from the scene? But then WWII chewed up and spat out a large cadre of disabled veterans who might otherwise have qualified. What evolved into the Paralympics started in the UK in 1948, with former RAF pilots and crew who’d sustained spinal cord injuries helping save their country and the world. The doctor who organizer recognized the role physical action in restoring a sense of personal agency.  “Until then, the problem was hopeless, because we had not only to save the[ir] li[ves]….  but also give them back their dignity and make them happy and respected citizens.” (History of the Paralympics. Olympics.com

GENDERING WARDROBES

What a difference, for female athletes, a little over a century has made. Once constrained to cover up, they’re now clad in skin-tight Speedos and Spandex. Cuts down friction and aerodynamics to promote speed, we’re told. But these also leaves “little to the imagination,” while male athletes in sports like gymnastics are allowed to compete more fully clothed. Perhaps, girls starting out, young as many do, miss the nuances and are so eager for their chance they just do what they’re told. But other women I’ve discussed this with agree there’s too much “eye candy” messaging and too little respect for the effort and discipline it took to get there. So, how much progress in views on and of women have we really seen since the Brundage era? And isn’t it past time for some serious rethinking? “Form-fitting costumes may be necessary, make sense, in sports like swimming and diving.” But shouldn’t there be “more clothing options when the uniform does not serve a performance-increasing function?” And that don’t leave athletes “basically naked?” (Erin Rubenking, Associate Director and Clinical Care Coordinator, University of Colorado Athletic Department. Quoted by Zoe Martin del Campo. Athletes Learning to Balance Body Image and Sport. Oberlin Review. March 4, 2022).  And I wonder who makes wardrobe decisions. Are men still deciding for women? If women aren’t given more input, why not? I’ve read that some famously underdressed Beach Volleyball players have suggested introducing longer stretchy shorts. Seems like a place to start.

When the Olympic Shine Begins to Tarnish

Wardrobe issues pale in comparison to scandals the Olympics have weathered over the years—doping, fudging on amateur status, whispers of under the table sponsorships.  And the business model, rather than addressing issues directly until forced to, seems to be downplaying, with a pattern of denial, looking the other way, and trying to shore up the image/brand/facade rather than fix what’s broken. I have a particular interest in behind the scenes of women’s gymnastics. Years back, a coach I helped assemble a loan application for a new gym told me he’d stopped doing competition training because of the way the girls were treated. But there’s no shortage of willing coaches and still enough shine to attract ranks of naïve new recruits. Use the term women loosely, since many haven’t even hit their teens yet. Eager for their own shining moments, their chances to fly, they enter, innocents in tiny leotards, into a world of challenges and contradictions. Nowhere to hide in those outfits, so it’s easy to police and enforce body shaming even as puberty sets in, and bodies undergo natural changes. “Society often idealizes an unrealistic thin body type for women, a stark contrast to the athletic build typically required for high performance in sports.” (BSN. Sweat, Strength and Self-Image: The Battle of Body Image Among Female Athletes). No surprise contradictions and clashing demands can trigger eating disorders and mental and emotional struggles. Instead of “listening to their bodies” and finding their own voices, girls are conditioned to listen to coaches and trainers who hold all the power. “You know these children are all being advised by adults, as to how they can realize their Olympic dream. So, they’re basically using that child’s dream to build [their] brand. And they’re so busy trying to sell, they didn’t have time for those girls.” (Steve Berta, Investigations Editor. Indianapolis Star, which first broke the Dr. Larry Nasser sex abuse scandal).

Who Controls These Bodies?

Athletes are, of course, more than their bodies.  But most of the time, training and competition are all about bodies. Young female gymnasts willingly hand theirs and their young lives over to coaches and trainers, well before they understand what they’re getting into. Rising to the elite level, it seems there’s a “culture of physical and emotional abuse…” [that leaves] many “conditioned to accept any and all treatment.” (Jennifer Sey, former elite gymnast, previously identified as “Athlete A,” one of the first girls to speak out, and producer of the 2020 documentary of the same name). “[C]onstantly belittled and berated” by coaches, girls are “stretched to the point of injury, they’re denied food, the’re fat shamed.” Girls have reported ”being hit by coaches, being pushed to train while injured, and being repeatedly insulted, berated, and ridiculed.” Some “success stories” admit the training was tough, but worth it for the results in medals. Reads to me like brainwashing and the demented and dehumanizing illogic of domestic violence, only in gyms. Visual memory flashes legendary coach Bela Korolyi carrying, to the gold medal podium, a gymnast he’d pushed to continue after she’d badly injured (perhaps even broke?) her ankle.

Levels of Brutality

Though orders of magnitude more brutal, I can’t help but see the murder of Ugandan marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei as a more extreme example. Her ex-boyfriend doused her in gasoline and set her on fire. Burned over 75% of her body, she died a few days later. He too later died, of burns and respiratory damage from the fire. Note that he was her ex, so she was leaving or had left. Assume he had a proprietary, owner’s, view of her body. “And if he couldn’t have it/her, no one could.” The backstory is that African women runners are often as a means to an end, prey to men who go after prize money well above regional incomes. (Ammu Kannampilly. Alleged killer of Ugandan Olympian dies from burns, hospital says. Reuters. September 10, 2024).

Exposing Olympic Dirty Secrets

Olympic coverage used to include feature, “Up Close and Personal” stories—home or training center visits, tales of overcoming physical challenges, families sacrificing and relocating for the “best” training. Interviews might mention self-doubts and performance anxieties in passing, but only in terms of overcoming them. Clearly, this was not the whole story. My coach-client didn’t mention sexual abuse. But we now know that, like rolling Catholic Church priests-and-young- altar-boys scandals, gymnastics was another nexus of male pederasts, who swore their young female victims to silence. “There were sexual predators everywhere….They were in my gym…They were everywhere across the country, and we knew who they were. But more broadly, emotional and physical abuse was actually the norm. And we were all so beaten down by that and made so obedient that…we would never say anything. We felt utterly powerless.” (Sey. Chalked Up: My Life in Elite Gymnastics. Harper Collins. 2009). Sadly and similarly, no adults stepped in and the sordid mess only came out when girls themselves—over 500 since the 1990s—broke the silence. (Wikipedia).

Paralympics: Inspiring But Also perfectly imperfect

In contrast, the 2024 Paralympics seem refreshingly wholesome, feel-good, inspiring.  We saw tales of love in bloom, with marriage proposals on the field. We saw the couple who both won gold, she in the Olympics and he in the Paralympics. And behind the scenes, we saw a disabled war photographer (leg blown off by an IED) take photos of disabled athletes with far more empathy than mainstream media who seemed intent on capturing the most awkward moments. Was this a subconscious reference to carnival sideshow geeks? Old habits and POVs on who belongs can die hard. One image showed prosthetic limbs stacked up and waiting, just part of life. But nothing’s perfect. Probably no surprise that, as “global audience, economy, and money [have] risen, so have incentives for cheating. There are growing murmurs pf “classification doping,” overstating levels of disability to gain an edge. (Roman Stubbs and Matt Higgins. As Paralympics get bigger, some athletes say cheating is more prevalent.  Washington Post. August 28, 2024). And again, the authority has been slow to respond.

Owning Names, Images, and Likenesses

With all the challenges, there are bright spots. Owners of whatever type no longer hold all the cards. As of June 2021, college athletes can now profit from use of their own names, images, likenesses (NIL). Previously, the NCAA could strip amateur eligibility from any who tried.  That meant all gains went to their colleges and universities and athletes essentially traded away, for scholarships or even just the right to play, any “ownership” of their very own bodies and persons. This ignored the fact that only a few will be able to transition to professional careers. And that some who do may suffer injuries or illnesses and see their careers end prematurely.  So, isn’t it only fair to allow them to make the most of opportunities while they can? Recent TV ads showing female athletes taking charge to explain NIL to fans. “I love the game, and I need to take care of my family.”  In my state, the NPR station announced workshops to help student athletes navigate and manage NIL opportunities.

Empowering Athletes To Exercise Personal Agency and Opportunity

Even mature professional athletes typically operate in bubbles, with handlers and teams to take care of their lives on and off the field—and with ample chances to rip them off.  Sadly, as we’ve seen, paternalism mixed with exploitation is solidly in the Olympic tradition. Fortunately, digital resources have expanded athlete’s options to develop better post-play Plan Bs. The unspoken truth of shining moments is that even “the best of the best” will eventually age out and need to figure out what to do with the rest of their lives. And if it’s time to think about changing clothes, athletes now have the chance, like the young gymnasts who stood up and spoke out, to stop depending on those who too often fail to act in their best interests. This remains more of a challenge for disabled athletes, who have a whole lot of catching up to do. And who can tend to fade from view between Paralympics, with less chance of sponsorships and revenue generating activities. But, from what I read, many are aware and working to create more options aimed at a growing audience of other non-standard bodies.

Olympics: A Reflection of Society and Culture  

No surprise that the Olympics reflect society and culture, with our general messiness, our tendency to try to look good rather than fix what isn’t.  But if we can learn to navigate them, challenges like exposing abuse scandals, though painful, can come with “silver linings.” Can create opportunities to look out for ourselves and each other. To see all of us as more fully as perfectly imperfect, one way or another. And we can thus prepare to move forward, no longer blinded by the spotlights of shining moments, and grow up into the next and much longer stages of life. And perhaps, moving forward, that can become the true Olympic ideal.