The Beijing Olympics are now history. Lots of exciting Olympic moments. Nastia Liukin, Michael Phelps, Shawn Johnson, May-Treanor & Walsh, Rodgers & Dalhausser, the Redeem Team…all exciting stuff. (If you don’t know those names, you don’t love the Olympics as much as I do.)
But, for all the gold and glory, there were some less-than-Olympic moments at this year’s games. Thought I’d take this week to reflect on some of these not-so-glorious moments.
How about this for starters? Angel Valodia Matos, a Cuban taekwondo athlete, kicked the referee in the head after he lost the bronze medal match. Matos, a 2000 Sydney Games gold medalist, pushed Swedish judge Chakir Chelbat and then caught him with an axe kick on the head after being disqualified in the Olympic taekwondo men’s tournament.
This outburst has cost Matos big time. He has received a lifetime ban from the World Taekwondo Federation.
The sport in which he won a gold medal in 2000 is also in trouble. Taekwondo is barely hanging on as an Olympic sport. The International Olympic Committee only approved it by one vote for the Beijing Games. Because of Matos’ actions, it will likely be defeated when the committee votes again.
This whole drama serves as a good reminder of this truth…our actions affect other people. We may like to believe that each of us is an island…that what we do only affects us. But that’s simply not true. What I do affects a lot of other people. Same goes for you.
Your words, your attitude, and your actions all have ramifications on other people. They reflect, either positively or negatively, on your family, your church, your friends, and ultimately, your God. How you carry yourself doesn’t just affect yourself.
Matos may have cost a lot of young people the chance of a lifetime. How many young athletes have been training for years, hoping to compete in taekwondo at a future Olympics? They may never get the chance, thanks in large part to the actions of Matos and a few others who may have irreparably damaged the sport’s reputation.
As you go through your day today, remember that the words you say, the demeanor you carry, and the things you do will impact a lot of other people.