So often things are not as they may seem, and with the passing of time the truth can be distorted. In the modern world of marketers, spin-doctors and PR specialists this is even more the case today than it ever was.
Take Baron Pierre de Coubertin the man credited as being the founder of the modern Olympic Games. He was undoubtedly a romantic. He clearly saw the benefits of physical exercise and the impact it could have on individuals, and that was why after meeting Matthew Arnold at Rugby school in England he pushed for sport to become a part of education in France.
While many of his quotes are used every time the Olympic Games come around some lesser known ones are left in the background. One such quote in relation to sport is “For every man, woman and child, it offers an opportunity for self-improvement.” Yet interestingly for the whole of his life he openly opposed the participation of women in elite track and field events!
However despite his own views he was a big enough man to be able to go with the consensus of opinion. For the participation of women in the Olympic Games grew six-fold under his presidency of the International Olympic Committee. Some have called him a visionary as he wanted the Olympic Games to be a truly global event to which all nations were invited and could participate. This was to be a quadrennial event which would unite all nations in friendship and peace through sport. It was supposed to be the world’s greatest celebration of humanity.
For over half a century the Olympic Gold medal was the pinnacle in the sporting world. Many a talented sportsman or woman opted for one sport over another purely because that sport gave them the opportunity of Olympic honours, whereas another may not. To be an Olympic sport was in itself prestigious, to be an Olympic Champion really meant something.
Some will argue that the Olympic medal started to lose its lustre when the various sports included in the Olympic Games started to create their own World Championships in the 1970’s and 1980’s.. Others will point to the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games where the IOC allowed athletes to officially be paid to participate. For decades there had been nations supporting ‘amateur’ athletes and it had become so ridiculous that ‘shamateurism’ had become a large part of the Olympic vernacular.
There are still those who will argue that the Olympic Gold medal is the pinnacle in World Sport, but is it? Is it really? It would appear that it is in some sports but no longer is that the case in all Olympic sports.
There is no denying for the athletes themselves an Olympic experience is unlike any other. For rarely do they attend a multi-sport event and have the opportunity to mingle with the world’s best not only in the Olympic Village away from the prying press, but also have access to so many other great sports and athletes in such close proximity. Nearly all talk about the overwhelming feeling of their first Olympic Games and how the whole magnitude of the event overpowers them, that nothing prepares you for it.
The magnitude may well be one reason why the glow of Olympic Glory is not what it used to be. If we look back at what some may call the Golden era of the Olympic Games, the 1950’s and 1960’s there were not as many medals up for grabs. In 1952 in Helsinki there were 149 medal events, that rose to 151 in Melbourne in 1956 and went back to 150 in Rome four years later. By the time Tokyo came around in 1964 there were 163 medal events and by Mexico city in 1968 we were up to 172.
Moving into the 21st Century in both the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games there were now 302 Medal events, this rose to 306 in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, and in 2020 – or 2021 – is supposed to be an all time high of 339 events in Tokyo. So in 68 years the number of Gold medals on offer has more than doubled. If we took it that each event only gave out three medals, gold, silver and bronze that is an increase of 127%. Of course there are team sports within those events where multiple medals are handed out, so the figure rises. The more medals available the less exclusive they become. (Has Olympic Expansion Reached Breaking Point)
If one looks at Swimming at the Olympic games back in the 1950’s there were 11, (1952), 13 (1956) and 15 events(1960) in which athletes could medal. In the last three Olympiads there have been 34 events. In the sport of Swimming American Michael Phelps has been hailed as the greatest Olympic Swimmer of all time after winning eight Olympic Gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, overhauling fellow American Mark Spitz’s record of seven gold medals in 1972; the latter’s all in a world record time. Comparing these remarkable feats in 1972 there were 29 Swimming events and in 2008 there were 34. Both swimmers won three Gold medals as part of relay teams, yet in 1972 Spitz had to swim in the heats of the relays, in 2008 Phelps just swam in the final. Two of the events that Phelps won gold in were not contested in 1972. Spitz won his seven medals in seven days, Phelps won his eight in 8 days. Mark Spitz retired aged 22 after the Munich Olympics. Phelps was 23 when he broke Spitz’s record and went around again for the 2012 Olympic Games.
Back in the 1970’s following his Gold-rush Spitz looked to make money from his success and endorsed a wide range of products after the Olympic Games and he retired from the sport, as Olympic athletes at this time were not allowed to earn money from their sport. His earnings at the time are believed to have been worth around USD$5 Million. In 2008 Phelps was said to be earning about USD$5 million a year from endorsements! One brand strategist claimed that his earnings post Beijing would be USD$30 million in the short term. Converting Spitz USD$5million to today’s values it is estimated that he would have earned the equivalent of USD$31.5million today. So the value of gold would appear to be fairly consistent.
However Spitz and Phelps are two remarkable Gold medallists who fall outside of the norm.
It is often said that winning an Olympic Gold medal will set you up for life, for some that may well be the case, but many of those who have won Gold in the past 20 years have found that this is definitely not the case.
One of the best known stories of an athlete trying to capitalise on their success but being stymied, is that of Jessie Owens who won four Gold medals in Athletics at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. The US Olympic team management had lined up a trip to Sweden to capitalise on their athletes success after the Games. Owens opted not to take part and returned to the USA, where it was claimed he would take up some lucrative endorsement offers.
Feeling snubbed, the US Athletics officials stripped him of his amateur status and and banned him from attending amateur sporting events. His career was over and he had no opportunity to use his profile to earn money from the sport, or encourage youngsters. Out of the limelight his appeal as a figure to endorse products became far less appealing, and as a result most who made such promises of endorsements withdrew those offers. He was forced to walk away from the sport, take on menial jobs, and race people and horses for cash. Clearly it was OK for those running the sport to make money, but not the athletes.
Twenty years on things were not much better, as the two stand out athletes in Melbourne in 1956 were to find out. Russian Vladimir Kuts won the 5000m and 10000m races at the 1956 Olympics, setting Olympic records in both events. The other was the USA’s Bobby Morrow, who was the first sprinter since Jesse Owens in 1936 to win gold medals in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay. With these games being held during the height of the Cold War, it came as no surprise that Kuts was the darling of the Eastern bloc countries, and Morrow of the USA. Interestingly the Australian media favoured Kuts as the star of their Olympic Games.
Morrow was feted by all when he returned to the USA, he too was offered endorsement opportunities, and speaking engagements. It has been written that he became frustrated that he was fulfilling many engagements but was unable to accept any money for them, and none were bettering his lot. He wanted to compete in Rome so he could not retire and could not be paid. He was given a job at a bank, as the Manager looked to cash in on his celebrity status, as customers loved to be served by an Olympic champion. He now had a young family to support so work was important. The US Athletics body kept requesting him to attend meets, to raise funds for them, but there was nothing to be gained for him personally. Before 1960 came around he snapped his hamstring and ultimately failed to qualify for the Games in Rome. The chance to cash in on his success had passed him by.
Vladimir Kuts was a national hero in Russia when he returned from Melbourne, and he became a figure linked heavily to communist propaganda. His success, his gold medals and his Olympic records were proof that the Communist way of life was a success. Yet he needed to keep competing and he needed to keep winning. There has been a great deal written about his performances and whether they were enhanced. Many have speculated that he was given amphetamines to maintain form. Certainly the health issues that followed could be attributed to such use. As he grew older and bigger, images of him in such a physical state were banned, and only pictures of a fit and healthy Kuts were permitted to be run. He had retired from running in 1959 and then coached, but by 1975 and aged just 45 he was dead. A mixture of alcohol and pills along with his failing health – he was 120kgs when he died- resulting in his passing away alone in his flat. Many believe that it was suicide.
Of course these were very different times to today. However today there are far more Gold medal winners. There are also so many other sports which are not a part of the Olympic Games which are constantly in the news and in the spotlight, being aired online or on specialist channels. Today the successful Olympic athlete has to fight with these for a share of the media spotlight, and also a share of the sponsorship and public speaking market.
While they may be in a position to call themselves the current Olympic Champion for the next four years, the fast-paced world that we live in where change is constant, no longer holds as much sway as it used to People know that once retirement is announced, the king or queen is ‘dead’, long live the new king or queen in that event. They know that in team events those teams are unlikely to ever play as a group again, so that team was at its peak at that moment and the afterglow will last for no more than a few months, after that it flickers like a candle during the day. It is still there, giving off light, but that lights has been absorbed into an overall wider picture.
It is sad for those who give up so much of their lives to attain Olympic Glory that their time in the spotlight has been diminished greatly in the past thirty years. For many make immense sacrifices not only to compete, but to be successful.
Is it too many events, is it too much money, or is it simply that there is so much high quality sport available today that the fortnight that the Olympic Games occupies every four years simply no longer captures the attention or the imagination it used to?
Yes, some athletes will make money on the back of Olympic success, but they will be few and far between. Most of those who win Gold in the 359 events in Tokyo will find that while filling themselves, close friends and family with immense pride their opportunity to reap the much-talked about rewards will be limited.
For some that will not be an issue as it is worth remembering that not all chase fame or fortune; although many do. Win or lose the athlete’s personal Olympic experience can never be taken away from them. Maybe they should have embossed on their shirt the words that Thomas Mordaunt famously wrote, “one crowded hour of glorious life is worth an age without a name.”
