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The Olympics have been a triumph of collectivism

August 9, 2012 11:58 am

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Well that was unexpected.

Before the games, I like so many others, was highly questioning of everything they were saying about us as a nation and in particular the diminishment of our public spaces by commercial interests. That’s not a concern that can be completely put aside, but it has not been the story of these games. My fears were wrong. I was wrong.

The change didn’t start with the slew of gold medals. It started when Danny Boyle held up a mirror to our nation and said “this is who we are – and we have the faith and courage in ourselves to be proud of that”. But if the change had just been about dancing NHS nurses and Tim Berners-Lee it would not have been so profound.

The gold rush has been great. There are a great many new stars in the national firmament. People who worked incredibly hard, as individuals and as teams to achieve the pinnacle of their success. Too many to name, the records and medals came in as each of them triumphed and wrapped themselves in the Union flag and the warmth of Team GB. They’ve earned it, and they should enjoy it. From some lovely pictures over the last few days it looks like they’ve been doing just that. But the amazing and most consistent message that has come from every single member of Team GB is that they are just that: a team.

Every athlete winning medals for Britain has dedicated their victory to the team of people that got them there; to their fellow athletes, to their coaches, their masseurs, their fitness teams and the hundreds of thousands of people who have worked so hard to make this happen, right down to the millions more willing them on. The successes of the Olympics and the successes of the athletes are a decidedly collective effort with hundreds playing their part – from each according to their ability to each according to their need.

Many myths have been busted over this incredible fortnight. We started by showing the world that we don’t need an empire to be a proud, modern people. A new British pride –similar to the embrace of Britpop in the 90s, but deeper and more about the whole of the populace (well most of them). We’re a people that are happy in our own skins – and it doesn’t matter what colour that skin happens to be.

It hasn’t just been the events of the Olympics that have broken down myths, but the coverage too. The BBC has done a simply incredible job of not just showing us the Olympics but of helping us to live it too. I remember watching Gemma Gibbons defeat her Semi-Final opponent with an Ippon in the Judo and thanks to the expertise of the commentary, for a moment there, I knew what that actually meant. I haven’t been near a Judo mat since I was seven! That’s public service broadcasting at its very finest.

The incredible blending of commentary and participation that led Steve Redgrave to support an exhausted and disappointed Mark Hunter as John Inverdale incanted over and over again what the nation were thinking “you’ve let nobody down”. These were men extremely comfortable in busting the “boys don’t cry” myth right there in front of us. And there was none of that famous British reserve in the athletics commentary box as scenes unfolded almost identical to those taking place on my sofa as Mo Farrah brought home the 10,000m gold.

This is who Britain is now. We’re the country that worships Clare Balding and Bradley Wiggins for their individual talents and who understand that it was not those talents alone but their nurturing by our country and its apparatus that made their success possible. As the new heroes we have found speak out against the dismantling of state support for sport, let us listen to them.

Some have tried to claim the Olympics as a triumph of individualism and Tory values. But Team GB know better. It is the collective who have made this Olympics the triumph it has been. It is the collective who will continue to ensure that this small group of nations remains able to deliver for its people and its audiences so much more than the sum of our parts.

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  3. One Nation, One Olympics
  4. David Cameron wins the gold medal for Olympics hypocrisy
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  • http://twitter.com/samuelpalin Samuel Palin

    I was with you until you brought Clare Balding into it. Why is someone who made her name in an elitist, cruel non-sport allowed to provide comment on our true sporting heroes? Who ‘worships’ her?

    • Amber Star

      Who is Clare Balding?

  • Royboxer

    Sorry I can’t agree.  As somebody who has no interest in elitist hooray Henry’s and Henriettas.  Why hasn’t the BBC “Who we all have to pay for” catered for me for the last fortnight.  A half hour news bulletin would have been enough but more would have been better.

    • Nhs_exec

      Elitist?

      You mean people ars trying to win and be best in the world?

      Truly shocking isn’t it, perhaps we should do a prizes for all Olympics with everyone walking slowly down a running track so no one is better than another.

      Doesn’t make Cameron’s views look less nutty at all.

    • KonradBaxter

      “elitist hooray Henry’s and Henriettas”

      Is this who you think the Olympic team is made up of?

      The BBC has catered for you, just as it caters for those who have no interest in football when the World Cup et al is on. You just may have to go online or listen to the radio or use freeview channels rather than be glued to BBC1 all the time.

  • Nhs_exec

    Please keep politIcs out of the Olympics. You are as bad as all the other hacks who are trying to benefit from sport. It is neither collective or individual its just a great celebration of sport, please please leave it alone.

    • Robertcp

      I agree.  Politicians who try to use sport usually end up looking total prats.  Boris might be an exception but maybe being a prat is part of his appeal.

  • hp

    It might even encourage some of our couch-potato nation to move about a bit and eat fewer chips. That would be a bonus for the UK.

  • PeterBarnard

     ”From each according to their ability, to each according to their need.”

    Eh?

    Since when has swimming (for example : £25 million spent in the last four years to develop just 50 swimmers = half a million quid per swimmer) been a “human need” requiring a “socialism solution?”

    And, don’t you think that there are better ways to spend £25 million?

    Poor article, Emma, I’m afraid.

    • Emmaburnell

      Beacuse that money doesn’t go straight into the pocket of the sportsperson, but into a apparatus that builds a successful sports team. The sports people then go on to inspire thousands to take up the sport, improving fitness and lives throughout the country.

      Is Sport a basic human need – that’s debatable. Fitness is, certainly. But I don’t believe collectivity is just about basic human need. Just as I believe in Government support for the arts, I equally believe in Government support for sport.

      When Winston Churchill was asked why he did not cut funding for the arts to help the war effort he replied ‘what are we fighting for?’ This Olympics have proved something about collective effort to the country. That is what we are fighting for.

      • PeterBarnard

        Thank you for responding, Emma.

        I appreciate that the £sd don’t go into the bank accounts of those being trained, but the money is still a charge on the public, whether voluntarily given by Lottery funding, or involuntarily given via taxation. I guess if people want to buy a Lottery ticket, then that is entirely their right, but whether they are buying the ticket as an act of generosity towards “deserving causes,” or as a gamble, I don’t know. Perhaps, a bit of both.

        Perhaps I should rephrase the question : at the personal level, is sport (and art) essential for human dignity (rather than need), and I would say, “No.” I appreciate that both sport and the arts make life “richer” for many people, but whether these psychological desires (and you may say “needs”), if you see what I mean, should be publicly funded to the extent that they are is a difficult question.

        As for inspiration, we shall have to wait and see. There may be an immediate positive reaction, but the long-term benefits can only be assessed in (you guessed it) the long term, and it is the long-term that is important – not the initial reaction in the wake of national euphoria. 

    • ThePurpleBooker

      Why are you rudely attacking one of our greatest achievements in Government? The Olympics have massively devolved impoverished places in East London. The country has been uplifted by this national event, Peter. Can you put aside your crude anti-swimming jibe and celebrate for London and Team GB.

  • JoeDM

    No.  It is an excellent example of meritocracy and individual excellence.  

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