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Lead Stories: Thursday, August 28, 2008

Heart, Commitment, Integrity and Faith

Posted January 30th, 2008 at 6:30 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, SoundOFF, Columns, Olympics, Drugs In Sports

My recent post titled “Not the Triumph, But the Struggle?,” about Oscar Pistorius and the IAAF’s decision not to allow him to compete in the sport of track & field, generated some interesting feedback from one of our long-time readers.
Jim Fortner of Jim2.net, in his reply to my article that accuses the IAAF of being unfair, heartless, discriminatory and elitist, wrote that “this issue is not a humanistic one. It is a question of fairness in competition and ensuring a level playing field.”

Mr. Fortner also wrote that “this kind of emotional article bashing the IAAF for doing its job is pointless and contributes nothing to the real issue of what is and is not fair and suitable in athletic competitions.”
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Not the Triumph,
But the Struggle?

Posted January 28th, 2008 at 10:45 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, SoundOFF, Columns, Olympics

Oscar Pistorius The Olympic Creed states that:

“The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.”

Oscar Pistorius would attest to that creed, perhaps better than any Athlete who will be allowed to compete in Beijing this summer. So it’s a shame that a couple of Italian Olympic officials missed a golden opportunity Monday during Pistorius’ visit to Milan to exemplify those ideals by pleading the South African sprinter’s case to the heartless, elitist IAAF. The Associated Press reports that a couple of IOC members instead stated that “the IOC had no jurisdiction in the dispute and it was up to the governing body to issue technical standards.”
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