Tony BeccaTony Becca
THE OLYMPIC Games takes place every four years, the next one is just around the corner, and right around the world, people are looking forward to it with great anticipation.
Over the years, it has become the greatest show on earth, and with thousands of athletes from almost every sport in competition and in search of a treasured gold medal, with a glittering opening ceremony and a touching closing ceremony, it is, and undoubtedly so, the greatest spectacle on earth the one that attracts, not a million or two, but millions and millions of television viewers.
Like everything else these days, however, the Olym-pic Games is not sacrosanct, and the way things are looking at this point, it could be the victim of a world in turmoil so much so that those who want to enjoy it, whether as competitors or spectators, had better get down on their knees and pray.
THREATENED BY BOYCOTTS
In the past, the staging of the Olympic Games has been threatened by boycotts, but despite the boycotts of 1980 and 1984, one led by the United States of America and one led by the Soviet Union, the show went on.
There is a good chance, however, that this one, scheduled for Athens, may not go on even though Greece and America seem determined that it will go on regardless.
The reason why the Athens show is in danger of being abandoned is the fact that it is not threatened by a simple boycott but by the loss of lives the lives of competitors, spectators and officials.
Recently, there have been a number of explosions in Athens, and with the Games only a few weeks away, the timing of the explosions seems to be part of a message.
The message, it seems, is coming from terrorists, and it appears to be saying to athletes around the world, to spectators around the world, do not come to Athens or else.
If that is so, and it does appear that is what it is, then remembering the massacre during the Munich Games of 1972, the explosions now taking place in Iraq and the explosion in Spain, it is a serious message a threat of death and destruction.
SHOULD NOT YIELD TO THREATS
Listening to a few Americans on ESPN a few days ago, such a threat should not stop the games and those who believe in freedom, in democracy, should not yield to threats and should show their support for the fight against terrorism by going to the games especially as they say, there will be tight, impregnable security around the Games Village and other places.
Athletes, however, are not fools, neither are spectators, they have seen what has happened to well secured places around the world, and many of them are afraid including, as has been reported, a number of basketball players who have refused selection to the USA's team for the Olympic Games because of a fear for their lives.
And it is not only rich American basketball players who are concerned about what could happen in Athens.
Based on reports, many athletes around the world are also worried, if there are more explosions in Athens between now and the Games, a number of them may decide to stay home, and that number could be so great that the Games would have to be called off.
It would be a pity if that happens if the young men and women who have been preparing themselves for the experience of a life time, for a shot at glory, are denied the opportunity to compete. The reality of the situation, however, is that the Olympic Games of 2004, the greatest show on earth, may not take place.
