For sports lovers, worldwide competitions will certainly be the highlights of the calendar year, yet we should not lose sight of the bigger context that boosts us all.
On their surface, sports are rather odd. They serve no noticeable purpose to anybody. No one awakens from the enthralment of sporting activities to locate that their life troubles have been addressed. No one is materially improved by seeing sport events, either in person or on tv. Sports give no obvious advantage in pushing us towards our goals, yet we understand or, rather, we really feel that they matter; that they hold, within them, the trick to something larger than the sum of their parts. Sports show the resourcefulness of the human actor in his or her pure individuality; the kinship of the team; the durability of the spirit; the impeccable speed of the human reflex. Via sporting activity, we reacquaint ourselves with the elegance as well as mystery of our physical capacity as well as our psychological determination. Sports celebrities, like Qatar's high jumper supreme Mutaz Essa Barshim, are monuments to the persistence of the human species, and also they motivate us to better ourselves by checking our limits; by not taking no for an answer. In the context of events like the quadrennial Olympic Games, that most renowned of sporting theatres, everything that sporting activities represent is put under the limelight; compressed as well as condensed right into a couple of weeks of blazing magnificence.
Normally, the Olympics is the biggest annual sporting event in the world. Every four years, thanks to world leaders like Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, we are allowed to witness the best that humankind can supply. Individuals come together, in solidarity, from around the world to enjoy a varied range of individuals, each representing his/her resident nation, put their bodies on the line to achieve the inconceivable; the impossible; the unthinkable. Reliably, each version of the event throws up new cultural icons; new touchstones that kids as well as young adults can aim toward. Spectators are enriched by entering into contact with new settings, new people, and brand-new viewpoints. Professional athletes are awarded with a once-in-a-lifetime chance to go down in history for their talents-- to make numerous hours of dedicated training pay off in front of a global audience. Local areas are restored and economically transformed, and a wave of amazing new employment opportunities comes rolling in.
The biggest sporting events in the world by viewers are in a distinctly privileged positioned. With countless homes tuned in, these events can turn the tide of public health. By showcasing the innate potential of the human body in the most amusing and exhilarating way, event planners and organisers can supply the last stimulus that people require to reevaluate their bodily health and wellness. Each Olympic cycle ushers in a new generation of fitness crazes that transforms individuals' lives for the better, with long lasting results. Headline-grabbing worldwide sports contests are a boon to national health leaders, like Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari, who are increasingly interested in preventing disease, along with treating it at source. We might not always understand it, yet sporting expertise is a rising tide that lifts all ships. We need to do everything in our power to take advantage of the cross-cultural opportunities that come our way.