Celebrating Olympic values

The countdown clock in our Embassy tells me that the that the London 2012 opening ceremony is barely two months away. The Olympic Torch has begun its tour of the UK. All around the world, athletes are qualifying for their national teams.

Here in the US, the first goosebump-raising, Morgan Freeman-voiced Olympics ad hit the airwaves this month, while at our Embassy Open House last weekend, our ten thousand visitors checked out mascots Wenlock and Mandeville and the official Mario and Sonic video game for London 2012. In other words, Olympic Fever is everywhere

As we get closer and closer to the games, momentum is also building behind the Olympic Truce movement. On 17 October of last year, the UN resolution for the Olympic Truce was adopted by all 193 UN member states, an unprecedented success.  Since the adoption of the Resolution, British Diplomatic Missions across the world have been organising a broad range of activities to promote the Olympic ideals of conflict prevention and peace.

That goal of an Olympic peace is an initiative that can trace its origins to the original Olympics in ancient Greece. Three of the ancient kings—Ifitos of Elis, Lykourgos of Sparta and Cleosthenes of Pisa—agreed to a truce called “ekecheiria.” For seven days before and after the Games, the nations stopped fighting to allow for athletes and spectators to take part in the Games.

This year the Foreign Office has teamed up with NGOs and youth programmes around the world to promote Olympic values and the Olympic truce. The High Commission in Barbados, for instance, hosted a football match to build trust between rival gangs; the Embassy in Quito sponsored a number of projects to raise awareness for children’s rights in Ecuador. Advancing the Olympic values of peace and dignity is a central part of our preparations for this summer’s Games.

Here in Washington, one organisation supporting the idea of Olympic peace is Georgetown University. In cooperation with Worldwide Support for Development and World Faiths Development Dialogue, Georgetown is sponsoring an Olympic Values symposium in London next month.

Part of the symposium is an essay contest, with the winners being awarded a three-day trip to London during the symposium as the guest of Lord Colin Moynihan, chair of the British Olympic Association; and another three days in London during the Games themselves. With my university days behind me, I regret that I’m ineligible—but students can still submit an entry through the end of May.

This week also marks 100 days to go until the Paralympic Games begin in London. Many Paralympic hopefuls, both from the UK and the US, are competing following injuries sustained in conflict. So it seems especially appropriate to highlight the Olympic Truce on the day we look forward to the Paralympic Games returning ‘home’.