Pointless exercise
The gallant failure of the Russians and their allies to destroy the Olympic Games is greatly to be deplored. Now that the Olympic movement has survived three successive boycotts, it will almost certainly survive anything. The objection to the Games is that they are still organised around the athletes; those features that the defenders of the modern Games are keenest on are precisely those that are the most loathsome. Commercialism and razz- matazz are now the only tolerable features of the Games. The athletes are a wholly corrupting influence. Athletic excellence at modern levels is clearly bad for the bodies of the competitors, even when they do not take drugs. But the effects on their charac- ters are even worse. The ebullience which gives charm to their oafishness is suppres- sed in favour of a petulant nastiness Mary Decker's behaviour after her fall was enough to make any disinterested specta- tor feel she had deserved it; Carl Lewis is surely one of the most unattractive crea- tions of modern fiction. Most depressing of all was the furore that followed Daley Thompson's behaviour after he had won the Decathlon. He was spontaneous, funny, and tasteless. What better can one expect of an athlete? High spirits are the only possible justification for athletics; when you hear of Olympic Ideals, reach for your packet of cigarettes.
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