As a political scientist specialized in Russia I can't believe the day is here and Sochi kicks off. Of course it has been a constant presence in my reading for almost as long as I'm studying Russia, especially in the recent months when Sochi has increasingly become a political issue. Olympics have a history of being relevant to much more than world sports. Now that Sochi occupies athletes, political leaders, and minorities we know this is history in the making before it even started. But now it has started...
For the love of world politics and the scholarly possibilities arising from this I absolutely love that the Olympics are in Russia. Few countries hosting could have had such relevance to the international system. No other country is like Russia. On more than one level Russia can not be touched. Russia is, was and will be one of the main players in our world and however much the West, or even the East, may hate that, it's not going to change. This whole opening ceremony demonstrated that clearly. Everything about Sochi was born in Vladimir Putin's mind, and this ceremony was no exception. The master of self-display did a tremendous job. That ceremony was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. Maybe it's because I'm a Russian connoisseur but who couldn't love all things Russian after such a performance?
While this is an observation that most people will have made I want to specifically express what this display meant for a person with my background. That background reaches from German, to Russia fan, to gay-lover, to sports fanatic. Is it even possible to see this as either a sporting event or a political platform exclusively? My answer is no. I love both Russia and homosexuals. My heart was therefore filled with pride and my entire body covered in goosebumps when my country's athletes arrived dressed in rainbow colors. They looked hideous but their substance outshone style. We're in Russia, more protest than this is virtually impossible. Our President not being in the audience will have bothered Vladimir about as much as US criticism of not delivering American yogurt to their athletes. Maybe, just maybe, his nose at least itched a little bit when he saw our athletes. And even if not, the world will see it. I'm proud that my country acknowledges that the Olympics are as much about human rights as they are about sports. Ban Ki Moon sitting two down from Mr Putin should be the very evidence of that...
Commentators also mentioned that the dance of the mascots was the only part of the ceremony that Vladimir did not have his hands on. Wait a minute, he didn't? The Russians actually had a democratic election about what the mascots would be. As we all know Russian democracy is very, very advanced and so the decision over this was made exclusively by the public... yeah right! The public favored the polar bear until Vladimir mentioned he'd prefer the snow bunny. And well, we didn't see a polar bear dance in the stadium, did we?
But it is about sports after all. Sochi will be everybody's achievement in three weeks, not just Putin's. Now that the athletes are there, and the terrorist attacks were prevented, the world will focus on the athletes, not Sochi's influences on world politics. Thanks to the Cyrillic alphabet in which the athletes emerged from below the stadium Israel was followed by Iran... couldn't have had it any more symbolic! Because after all they will all be staying in the same village, and they're all competitors, not just the jews and the muslims. And that's why the Olympics are so special because few things in the world have the power to put politics behind us and enjoy what we all have in common. Of course we won't and don't want to forget about equality and human rights but hopefully athletes and politicians will be able to execute sportsmanship, including Putin and his minions. As a reaching hand to international criticism they included a song by t.A.T.U, a lesbian band, to the ceremony. He is a pro, that Vladimir, he is a pro...
No comments:
Post a Comment