Olympic Dreams and Fairy Tales

On April 6, 2008, Canada’s biggest Olympic trials wrapped up at a swimming pool in Montreal. This was the final competition for swimmers hoping to take the next logical step in their sporting careers. As for many other Canadian athletes, competing at the Olympic Games is equivalent to climbing Mount Everest. It is simply the biggest show on earth. Like mountaineers, Olympic athletes can be tongue-tied when trying to justify their pursuits. Why do you climb the mountain? Because it’s there. Why do you want to go to the Olympic Games? Because they are there.

This is the reasoning that the International Olympic Committee and its franchises such as the Canadian Olympic Committee depend upon for their self-preservation, and it is the reasoning they hope Canadian athletes and Canadian sport fans will draw on when asked to justify participation in Beijing. While debates over...