OPINION: Sports key to bridge-building in the 2020s
By: Joel Aberg
The Tokyo Summer Olympics take place 24 July-9 August 2020
With global tensions intensifying, the Tokyo Olympics present a rare opportunity for peace talks and bridge-building.
With the 2016 Olympics in Rio becoming the second most watched broadcast of all time, puncturing the notion that it’s losing its traction, it illustrated that no other event comes close in terms of bringing people together.
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With great power comes great possibilities. Seeing South and North Korea walk hand in hand on the Korean Peninsula in 2016 was remarkable and embodied all that’s good with the Olympics.
But just as it’s applicable for modern times, nowadays being cheered on by the UN, which has called on sports to promote integration and understanding, the Olympic Truce from 776 BC shows that sports have always been closely tied to peace and bridge-building.
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This time around, people from nations like the United States, Ukraine, Iran, Syria and Venezuela will assemble, possibly learning that we’re not too dissimilar from each other, despite what some try to purport in the name of conflict. That’s something, at least.
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It couldn’t be better timed. With xenophobia on the upswing, the Olympics open up channels previously closed and inspire grassroots movements promoting peace and understanding previously uninspired.
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