LONDON - The Olympic Opening ceremony marks the point at which many athletes' dreams start to soar and take shape. For others like Rahman Mahfizur, it is about as good as the Games will get.
If the 19-year-old Bangladesh flagbearer is tempted to
linger perhaps a little longer than some of the others, it might
be because he knows it is his only chance to stand in the
limelight.
There will be 204 nations represented in Friday’s ceremony,
with South Sudan and Netherlands Antilles athletes parading
under the Olympic flag, and some 80 of them have never won a
medal at either a winter or Summer Olympics.
Bangladesh, one of the most densely inhabited countries on
Earth with a population reckoned to be close to 150 million, is
the biggest of the non-medallists but is fielding just five
athletes in London.
Mahfizur, a public servant swimming the 50m freestyle in his
first Olympics, is living a dream nonetheless – the dream of
modern Games founder Baron Pierre de Coubertin who declared that
“the most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but
to take part, the essential thing in life is not conquering but
fighting well.”
That might seem old-fashioned in an age when the world’s
wealthiest nations spend considerable fortunes to secure
bragging rights in the medals table.
Britain, as a nation, certainly expects some return from its
nine billion pound ($14.13 billion) investment.
For others, mainly the world’s poorer countries without the
resources to take on the sporting elite, just being part of a
parade watched by billions is something very special.
Imperceptible to the global audience, small steps are being
taken. Bhutan may have so far only ever competed in the national
sport of archery — entering seven Games without success — but
in London the country will achieve a first with Kunzang Choden
entered in the women’s 10m air rifle competition.
WILD CARDS
Mahfizur will have heard the national anthem sound at a
welcoming ceremony when the Bangladesh delegation entered the
village and he knows he will not be hearing it again in
competition.
No Bangladesh athlete has ever qualified for an Olympics,
relying instead on wild cards agreed with the International
Olympic Committee.
While Mahfizur can boast that he swam in the same pool as
the likes of American Michael Phelps, the greatest Olympian of
them all with 14 gold medals and more to come, his opponents
will be less distinguished.
Of the seven men lining up against him in heat five at the
Aquatics Centre on Aug 2, three come from countries that have
never medalled – Jordan, Swaziland and the Cook Islands.
It may come as no surprise that tiny nations like Tuvalu,
Palau or the Federated States of Micronesia have never won
anything at a Games but there are others who maybe should have.
Nobody representing Angola, Guatemala or Somalia has ever
won a medal — although Mogadishu-born Briton Mo Farah should
ensure Somalia gets more of a mention this time around as world
5,000 metres champion.
Somalia, a war-torn country without a serviceable athletics
track, has just two athletes competing in London and they will
be remembering fallen comrades after two top sports officials
were killed by a suicide bomber in April.
The athletes parade, with Greece leading the way and the
host nation entering last, gives everyone a chance to play a
part. Some will join the greats, others may also enter Olympic
legend for other reasons.
Men like Eric ‘The Eel’ Moussambani, the swimmer from
Equatorial Guinea — another country without a medal – crawled
to fame in the 2000 Olympics when he swam his 100m freestyle
heat in a time slower even than the 200m world record.
It was still a personal best, however.
De Coubertin, who died in 1937 when the Games were still
strictly Corinthian of spirit, would have been proud of him.
