I've seen both social media and general commentary about the Olympic spirit and how there's often surprise that the Olympians are often so supportive and friendly despite being fierce competitors.
But I don't think this is limited to Olympics, it feels like it's a wider sporting change that's happened over the past years, and for me it's only a positive. Back when sports clubs were founded, they were ways for local areas to compete against each other against their common enemy - maybe it was the town down the road, or in early football, the workers vs the private schools (confusingly referred to as public schools in the UK) - and there was a greater identity around a club. It was not unusual for there to be 'one club' players - those that never played for another club out of loyalty and commitment to a cause.
But I don't think that's realistic in 2024 - sport has been commercialised and been turned into a product - and a lot of that is positive - better medical treatment, better Player Care, better support more generally - but also a higher workload, more commitment and a loss of local identity that goes with clubs.
So many of these Olympians (and sports people more widely) will have trained together since they were kids, even from opposions nations/clubs. So many of their families will know each other. So many of them will have had to move abroad and will have been each other's support network.
So yes, while it's obvious they want to win, there's also often a shared happiness for the people who have been around them since day 1 to succeed too. Ahead of every Premier League game I've worked, you'll see players or staff from another team chatting in the tunnel, often in their native tongue, catching up. I think it's great to see the comraderie of the sport - the competitiveness left on the pitch.
At clubs I've worked, we'd often look to see what players local clubs have, even rivals, to see if they're from similar backgrounds to see if they can help support each other. The South Americans at West Ham & Tottenham were often having an 'asada' (BBQ) together - the fans are rivals, the teams want to beat each other, but the humans were friends.
One of the best things about working in football is the diverse group of people you meet through the work - I've learnt so much about cultures I'd never normally have been exposed to. I tried Stegt Flaesk for the first time at Brentford, a delicious Danish pork dish, I was gifted a bottle of Sokolova plum brandy by a Serbian player at Southampton - I visited a mosque with a player at West Ham to learn about his community. All things I wouldn't have had without football, because people within the game are happy to share, teach and learn.
I'll miss the Olympics - the ability to get really into a sport live at 2pm on a Tuesday that you've never seen before (speed climbing is great!) not only because it's athletes at their best, but because it's people at their best too.
Founder | Lawyer (Murphy's Law Accident/Injury Lawyers)
10moImportant topic for us all, Trent! In terms of your question about what we can do about this... it would be nice to see sporting organisations themselves rethinking their attitudes to child sport and reframing their message to parents. Fun fun fun should be the focus, particularly given that the majority of kids won't be elite sportspeople. Yes, grading is a thing, but as kids move through school this narrow approach to sports leaves many kids on the outside looking in if they have never played before (and we lack programs to get them in at that point incidentally...a real problem in itself). This hyperfocus on grading sends the wrong super-competitive message. The ideal should be that we keep fielding teams until every kids who wants to play sport has a team. If the will is there, it can be done.