Sports

Cinematic Splendour

Black symbolism was the theme of a show dominated by spectacle, money and sheer audacity

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Cinematic Splendour
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ITwas pure Hollywood. Like in Los Angeles over a decade ago. The opening ceremony of the Atlanta Olympic Games on July 19 was chock-a-block with all the ingredients that the movie moguls of Sunset Boulevard would have flipped over: it was spectacular, theatrical, pathos-laden, pride-inspired and full of blindingly impressive special effects. It was, after all, orchestrated by Hollywood itself. And, as the Sunbelt city, cockily spunky and out to show the entire world how things are done, pulled out all the stops to welcome athletes and visitors from nearly 200 countries with much music and dance, it left the entire world gawking in wonder. At the sheer power of money and showbiz chutzpah.

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The occasional nod to Olympic tradition apart, it was an unabashed show of splendour, wealth and high technology. A show that added, as it was quite clearly designed to, a new chapter in the history of Atlanta, 67 per cent of whose inhabitants are black. So the city made no bones about its intentions: as it heralded the centennial Games with pomp and pageantry under the dark shadow of the TWA air disaster off Long Island, Atlanta was making a statement on behalf of an entire race. And it was loud and clear.

The Games will never be the same again. In a touching gesture from the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, it was Muhammad Ali—the boxer who floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee at the height of his prowess but is today afflicted by Parkinson's syndrome and is barely in control of his nerves and limbs—who lit the cauldron in Atlanta Olympic Stadium after US President Bill Clinton declared the 26th Olympiad open. The name of Martin Luther King Jr, the famous Atlanta resident who championed the cause of African-Americans till his assassination, was invoked with solemnity and respect during the ceremony and a portion of one of his many stirring speeches was aired over the public address system.

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The name of the athlete who would light the Olympic flame had been kept a closely-guarded secret until the climax of the ceremony, and the entire stadium burst into spontaneous applause—many of the spectators were seen wiping away quiet tears—when Ali's name was announced. It was a sad sight, but a stirring spectacle of the kind that Hollywood specialises in and has over the years exported all around the globe. It was much more than a tribute to one of the greatest sportsmen the world has ever known—it was, more significantly, a display on the world stage of black power. Muhammad Ali was the greatest. He still is. Fumbling reflexes notwithstanding.

The appearance of Muhammad Ali was preceded by a riot of colour and gaiety as this Black-dominated city, the headquarters of Coca Cola and CNN, laid out the red carpet to over 10,000 athletes and an even larger number of officials from 197 countries. The oppressive heat and humidity in the stadium was easily forgotten as the brilliant show unfolded before a television audience of about 3.5 billion people worldwide.

Atlanta—and the US of A—did not miss a trick. The only time the opening ceremony flagged a bit was during the march past, which consumed much more time than originally allocated, pushing the duration of the entire ceremony from three-and-a-half hours to four. But nobody in the stadium seemed to mind. After all, Atlanta had bagged the Olympic Games after a bitter fight ahead of Athens, whose claim to the centennial edition

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could not have been overemphasised, and the city had to show the world that it mattered.

But there were sops along the way for Greece—the birthplace of the Olympics, both in ancient times and in the modern era. A makeshift Greek amphitheatre was erected in the middle of the stadium and events like wrestling and the javelin throw were presented, much to the delight of the large congregation of spectators. In a further move to assuage hurt Greek sentiments, Parasekevi Voula Patoulidou, who won the gold medal in 400 metres hurdles in 1992 at Barcelona, was co-opted into the torchrelay team. Other members of the team were four-time men's discus champ Al Oerter and former world professional heavyweight boxing champion and 1984 Olympic bronze medal winner, Evander Holyfield.

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The choice of Muhammad Ali took many by surprise. But it was of a piece with the theme of the evening. Ali had thrown away the gold medal he had won at the Rome Olympics in 1960 in the light heavyweight category after being denied entry into a restaurant with another Black friend. Besides, the former three-time world professional heavyweight boxing champion had once been stripped of his crown in 1967 for refusing to be drafted for the Vietnam war. His choice as the final torch-man by Evander Holyfield's own city was perhaps a reply to the ignominy that was heaped on the lord of the ring.

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The glitterati were, of course, out in full strength to watch a show that boasted a cast of 5,500. Action star Bruce Willis and his equally well-known wife Demi Moore joined Jane Fonda and CNN chief Ted Turner. Politicians ranged from former US president Jimmy Carter to House of Representative Speaker Newt Gingrich. And in the giant arena, eight past Olympic champions, including Americans Greg Louganis and Carl Lewis, Romanian Nadia Comaneci and Cuban Teofilo Stevenson, were honoured for their outstanding performances in the Olympics.

And that was that: a glitzy, brash show without the slightest hint of a glitch. Isn't that what Hollywood is all about, at least on the surface?

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