It's been like watching the coverage of the Beijing Olympics on a split screen. Much of the Western media comment in the main news and opinion pages has been written up by the "nattering nabobs of negativism," in the immortal words of Vice President Spiro Agnew (albeit written by William Safire). The coverage in the sports pages and live TV has been of an entirely different event, celebrating the joys of human endeavor in a tough but friendly competition, with individual tales of heroism mingling with spectacular evidence of China's organizational skills and sporting supremacy. The games were also mercifully light on controversies and doping scandals. The competition was the story, not a backdrop.
There have been tales that fit the dominant Christian narrative of human fallibility, sin and redemption on an epic scale. Eric Lamaze, a Montreal street kid, born of an unknown father and a drug addict mother who spent time in jail, was twice banned from Olympic competition because of drug use, including cocaine. Fortunately, his arbitrator was a follower of Portia in believing that justice must be tempered with mercy. And so, at age 40, Lamaze found himself a member of the Canadian equestrian team in Beijing, helped Canada win the team silver and then captured the individual gold medal. For me, one of the lasting images will be the medal ceremony with the Canadian Maple Leaf flag fluttering proudly to the strains of the national anthem while Lamaze fought back tears.
The Canadian equestrian team also provided one of the best stories of persistence and perseverance. At age 61, Ian Millar was competing in his ninth Olympics. He had never won a medal in his previous eight appearances. This time round he was captain of the Canadian team that captured silver.