Rings that Bind

THE Olympics have traditionally been viewed as two weeks of worldly what-ifs.

What if countries could compete with the same kind of spirit and sportsmanship that their athletes do?

The 1988 Olympics seemed not so much a dream of what could be but a blueprint for what will be. Although the Soviet Union, East Germany and the United States finished one through three, respectively, in the medal hunt, a bevy of other countries--including the host country, South Korea--were not far behind in the medal standings.

The emergence of China and South Korea as athletic powers mirrors their rise as international powers. All you had to do to glimpse South Korea's changed status was take a peak behind Bryant Gumbel on NBC. Seoul is as modern as New York.

Events in which Americans traditionally do well--basketball, for instance--were no longer U.S. locks. The Soviet Union beat the U.S., 82-76, in the semifinals.

This was no throwback to 1972, when the Soviets scored a controversial last-second basket to win. This was a straight beating. Their team trounced ours, fair and square.

Now there is talk of allowing National Basketball Association stars to participate in the Olympics. Larry Bird and Michael Jordan would not have allowed the Soviets to stroll off with the gold medal, say the proponents of this plan.

Sending Bird and Jordan to Barcelona, Spain, for the 1992 Games would probably secure the U.S. a gold medal in a sport it, after all, invented. But it would also send a message of panic: We cannot compete with what we have.

One wonders how powerful the Soviet Union could be if its economic system were the equal of its basketball team. Coach Mikhail Gorbachev, although he has a decent game plan, still has a long way to go to lead his team to economic greatness.

LOSING in basketball tweaked the United States' nationalistic conscience. But when American Matt Biondi, owner of the most famous chest in the world, lost the 100 meter butterfly, even Americans could not help but shelve their loyalty and rejoice in the triumph of the man who defeated him--Anthony Nesty of Suriname.

Nesty was the most unlikely gold medalist at the Olympics. He grew up in a country with only one 50-meter pool. His improbable victory showed that hard work, even against great odds, does pay off, a maxim Americans cherish.

And despite its defeat in basketball, the U.S. did not falter in the epitome of American sports, baseball. The Americans took home the gold.

Before the Olympics began, people anticipated problems outside the Olympic Village. There was concern about terrorism and student protests. Thankfully, there was no terrorism and only mild student protests. But the taint of the new world--home of terrorism and other evils--did not escape the 1988 Games.

After winning the gold medal in the 100 meter sprint, Canadian Ben Johnson tested positive for steroids. For several days, Johnson became The Story. His picture along with the simple headline "Busted" appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Johnson was stripped of his gold medal. He was sent home to wallow in his shame, an example--and a victim--of the Olympic Committee's tough drug stand.

But even the Johnson controversy could not wash away the glory the Games traditionally hold. American Greg Louganis smashed his head on the board in the preliminaries of spingboard diving. Injured, he won the gold medal.

In Louganis, the Olympics had someone who transcended all of today's troubling concerns--drugs, terrorism, a world becoming increasingly inscrutable. In Louganis, the world found someone who spoke to everyone with the beauty of his dives and gripped everyone with his courage.