Are Olympic Moments Over?

The legitimacy of the Olympic movement--one of the great treasures of the world--now hangs in the balance. Ongoing corruption scandals have raised serious questions about the ability of the current International Olympic Committee to safeguard and advance the games. And as the results of the mid-March IOC meeting on reform showed, there is little impetus from within the movement for broad-based institutional reform. As with other international crises, United States’ leadership must play a strong role in promoting real solutions in order to secure the long-term future of the Olympics.

Every fourth winter and summer, the world comes together, a torch is lit, flags are raised, a truce is called, and peaceful competition ensues. Nations that are otherwise at odds compete fairly on the fields of play. The troubles that divide us are bridged; a million dreams and aspirations soar. Around the world, scores of young people watch as heroes emerge from both those who have won and those who have struggled bravely to compete at their best.

As an athlete, the Olympics marked a high point in my career. However, the impact of the games goes far beyond those fortunate enough to compete. America’s collective spirit was lifted by the “miracle on ice” victory of the 1980 U.S. hockey team over the Russians. A generation earlier similarly can point to Jesse Owens’ four gold medals in the face of Nazism. For the countless people who watched, these athletic feats transcended the world of sport and spoke to our ideals.

The future of Olympic moments such as these is now in jeopardy. Endemic corruption among the elite membership of the IOC places the games at serious risk. A recent survey found that public opinion of the Olympics has fallen dramatically; if people no longer believe the Olympics stand for something, the flame will fade. Already, these corruption scandals seriously impair the IOC’s ability to deal with the challenges ahead, such as the threat from doping--cheating through the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

At the meeting to determine how to fix the Olympic movement, the IOC focused its efforts on merely throwing out six individuals rather than fixing the institution. Real reforms, as outlined by both White House drug czar Barry McCaffrey and the report of the Mitchell Commission, are necessary to the IOC. The IOC does not own the games; it holds them in trust for the community of nations and all the world’s people. The IOC’s books and deliberations must be made open to public scrutiny. The members of the IOC must be democratically elected and represent the interests of all stakeholders, especially the athletes. A code of conduct for the institution is also required.

American leadership in sports is rare, an unfortunate condition. As a member of the U.S. delegation that traveled to the IOC’s Lausanne World Conference on doping, I was received with great enthusiasm. Other delegations were delighted to see the United States involved. But traditionally, the United States government does not play a significant role in sports policymaking.

Other nations came to the IOC reform meetings armed with sports ministries and the authority of their governments. The U.S. Olympic Committee is left to go it alone. While this arrangement, which is largely the product of the U.S. Amateur Sports Act, rightfully preserves the apolitical nature of sport, it puts our nation’s interests in the world of sport at a disadvantage. To its credit, the USOC recognized this when it recently asked the White House for help in taking on entrenched interests to push for a more democratic IOC.

We do not need a sports ministry or the politicization of sports for our nation to exercise greater leadership in reforming the Olympic movement. But we must treat this as a serious matter and provide the USOC with the support it needs. If such insidious corruption plagued one of the world’s largest multinational corporations or another international organization, the government would step in. We should not hold the IOC, a body entrusted with the Olympics and billions of dollars in revenue and donations, to a lower standard. Nor should we place less emphasis on IOC reform simply because its business is sports.

The United States, through corporate sponsors and the funding provided through the USOC, is the single largest contributor to the Olympics. Its voice is one the IOC simply cannot ignore. In every race, even the marathon, there comes a turning point, a moment when the victory is there to be grasped or lost. We are at such a turning point now. The legitimacy of the Olympics hinges on the IOC’s willingness to undertake meaningful changes. Absent the weight of the U.S. government behind such reforms, there is the strong chance that these changes will not come to fruition.

Unlike other international crises, no blood will be spilled, no markets will tailspin if we fail to reform the games. However, without U.S. leadership the fate of one of the world’s most enduring tributes to the character of man and the human spirit may be lost or irreparably damaged.