Olympism

Hey Folks!

Since jetlag managed to make my sleep rhythm resemble way too close the one of my grandma (Going to bed at 8, getting up at 6), I decided it might be time for a new blog entry. Yesterday, I told you some stuff about the YOG in general and said that my job was to promote the Olympic Values. Now when I was giving presentations in local schools and asked the kids, what Olympic Values are, the first two answers (apart from IDK) usually were "No doping" and "Fair Play". While those are of course perfectly good values, they in my humble opinion focus too much on the sports aspect of the Olympics. "Wait a second - is there another aspect to the Olympics than sport", you might exclaim now. Well, there is! Let me explain:

In the Olympic Charter (which is like the IOC's constitution), the first paragraph of the chapter "Fundamental Principles of Olympism" reads

"Olympism is a philosophy of life, exalting and combining in a balanced whole the qualities of body, will and mind. Blending sport with culture and education, Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on the joy of effort, the educational value of good example and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles."

The first thing I find interesting is that Olympism is a philosophy of life. As you might know, the ancient Olympic Games were religious events to render homage to the Gods. I know that nowadays, it might be difficult to grasp the philosophy underlying Usain Bolt running 100m in 9.69. However, at this point, I'd like to point out that Mr. Bolt trashing his opponents or Michael Phelps (Who is an ambassador for the YOG btw!) making a clean sweep are far more interesting than something intangible as an Olympic philosophy. However, if you take a look behind the scenes, of athletes coming to the Games and living in the Olympic Village together, you will immediately notice that there is a certain spirit in the air. Unfortunately, I never had the pleasure yet to go to traditional Olympic Games, but allow me to take the YA seminar as an example: There, 29 YAs (We really missed you Maysam!) from all around the globe and 60 local CEP champs were united for the first time in their lives. And although their backgrounds were so diverse, ranging from Olympic champions to amateur just-for-fun athletes (like me ;)), you knew that they were united by something. I can't point my finger on it, but uniting factor might as well have been their shared philosophy of Olympism.

The point I probably like most is when it says "combining in a balanced whole the qualities of body, will and mind." When I tell people that I study psychology in order to one day become a sport psychologist, they immediately think I will be the guy curing them from their drug problems since they can't cope with their stardom. Most people fail to understand that the body is granted, an important, but only one factor of sports. An example: Imagine that, through lucky genes, you only have to look at a weight and gain 3 pounds of muscles. Unfortunately, you are a little shy and the simple thought of performing before an audience gives you stage fright. Do you think that you'll ever win a competition? So in order to really be successful, you need to have the body (i.e. working out), the will (i.e. perseverance) and the mind (i.e. mental strength).

Last but not least, I would like to focus on the "blending sports with culture and education" part, since it is probably the most important one for the YOG. As you can see here, the CEP is not just an idea Mr. Rogge had to prevent the athletes from getting bored in Singapore (A highly unlikely thing). Combining sports with culture and education has from the start always been an important principle of the Olympic Movement. If you read the Fundamental Principles of Olympism and scroll down a bit, you'll find the goal of Olympism:

"The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of man, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity."

So, the way I see it, Olympism seeks to give athletes the means to promote a peaceful society, since culture and education are indispensable goods for the development of man. Or, a little less abstract: With the CEP, the YOG try to live up to the Fundamental Principles of Olympism by shaping young athletes not only to become champions on, but also off the field. They want young athletes to reach out to their communities and act as role models and living examples of how much you can achieve if you only believe in yourself, work hard an shape your life by the values of Friendship, Excellence and Respect.

The latter are the three Olympic Values, which I will write about in detail tomorrow!

So long

Let's take a ride to Singapore town

Hey Folks!

Before going abroad for an awesome year in Paris and New York respectively, I started a blog titled "I will be chasing the starlight". This is of course a reference to the Muse song "Starlight" (listen to it!), which I enjoy very much. In addition, it's also kinda my leitmotif as I have so many dreams and goals I want to achieve that I thought "starlight" might be a proper illustration. Call me arrogant, but with all the things I want to achieve in life, I thought chasing something earthly would be too limited.

As most people reading this blog might have heard is that I went to Singapore last week (If you haven't heard, the 1000 FB tags could have given valuable hints ;)). So maybe I'll start out what I was doing there. In a nutshell: I am a Young Ambassador for the inaugural Youth Olympic Games, taking place in Singapore from August 14th to 26th, 2010. The YOG are an initiative by the IOC to host world-class sports competitions for athletes 14-18 while also offering a balanced culture and education program (CEP) to teach them the Olympic Values, namely Friendship, Excellence and Respect. So in short, my job is to help promoting the YOG and the values they stand for.

In order to be well-prepared for my role as ambassador, I was invited to the Young Ambassador Seminar in Singapore last week. And believe me when I say that this was the most exciting, inspiring and eye-opening week I ever had in my life. I won't bother stating examples of why this week was special (which it was) and why it was more fun than stuff I've done before (which it was as well). All I can say is that after this week, I know that I must have done something right in life, as it has lead me to being named a Young Ambassador and being fortunate enough to meet with all those exceptional people in Singapore.

I've been sitting on the next paragraph for 2 hours now and it doesn't go anywhere. I just can't find any words to describe how extraordinary and amazing spending six days in Singapore with the 28 Young Ambassadors (btw: We missed you Maysam!) and the 60 CEP champs was. Just put it this way: Imagine you live in a nice country, where you always have the slight feeling you don't really belong, because most people don't dare dreaming as big as you do. Next, you board a plane and go 10,000 km away. You exit the plane and suddenly, you are surrounded by dozens of people sharing exactly the same energy and spirit you do. And although they come from different countries and backgrounds, you have no problem whatsoever having an awesome time with them. Now multiply that feeling by a million and you get an impression what being a Young Ambassador means to me.


In the next five months, I will be busy promoting the YOG to Austrian youngsters and getting in touch with the Austrian athletes qualified to go to Singapore. And even though I will sometimes get the feeling that I already have a lot on my plate, it won't matter. Because I know that there are people all around the world going this way together. And believe me or not, but I draw such an incredible energy from just this one thought that I don't have a single doubt on my mind that I will succeed with my mission. After all, I am after the best reward there has ever been: Being reunited with the YAs and CEP Champs in August...