A salute to The International Olympic Committee.

The 2016 Olympics has seemed like The Silly Olympics at times.First there was the Russian doping scandal.It was curious to say the least how more accountability for that was put on disabled athletes than on all of the Russian team collectively,but the Russian team is a top draw at a venue that has seemed somewhat beleaguered at times,Then,of course,there is the Zika virus,and concerns over water quality,and street crime.And,the unsavory actions of a few American swimmers is a trending news topic.But once in a while,the International Olympic Committee and it's member organizations gets something right.

Judo is perhaps not the highest profile Olympic event,but it matters to those who are fans,and to those who dedicate there lives to performing it at it's highest level.I would have to admit both ignorance and disinterest with this particular event,were it not time to commend the IOC for a job well done.

Following a match between Egyptian Islam El Shehaby and his Israeli opponent Or Sasson, El Shehaby left refusing to bow,shake hands with or otherwise acknowledge his opponent.He was called back,asked to bow and acknowledged his opponent with a quick nod.His actions were deemed unacceptable by the IOC,and that position was supported,at least publicly by The Egyptian Olympic Committee who sent El Shehaby home.Given the Russian doping scandal,we might legitimately wonder if the outcome would have been different if the athlete in question were involved in a higher profile event,like the 100 meter dash for instance,or if he were from some other nation,again,a higher profile one.But all that aside,lets give credit where it's due.

The Olympics is not the place to make a political statement,unless that statement is that sporting events like The Olympics is intended to be transcendent of world politics.To be certain,national pride is a big part of competition.Who is not proud when our competitors excel? And there is absolutely nothing wrong in that.As a Canadian I am unapologetic in my pride of our athletes.They have taken on and beaten worthy opponents from all over the world.But national pride and Nationalism,especially that sort of Nationalism that denigrates the nationalism of others are not the same thing.The later has no place in Olympic competition.

In viewing the actions of El Shahaby,at least at this point,I'm a bit uncertain as to his motivation.It may be a bit premature to put it down as anything more than simple poor sportsmanship,however badly he's behaved.On the other hand,it's a short step in thought to suspect that his motivations might have had a lot to do with the national and religious identity of his opponent.Such would not be the case were that opponent Canadian or Icelandic or Arabian or Paraguayan.But given the state of world affairs,his actions tend to be automatically assigned certain intentions.

In a world that is often racist,xenophobic and politically uneasy to say the least,the IOC and the it's Egyptian counterpart have scored a small victory.But small victories are not insignificant.Firstly,they have not allowed  indecent behavior to prosper,notwithstanding any past failings.Simply,they made the right call in issuing a game misconduct.Secondly,at least so far,they've prevented any group from claiming the actions in question as a victory for some political agenda,be it Islamicist or Zionist,or any other for that matter.So far the incident has been confined to the forum in which it belongs,and indeed sport has been made to transcend.This time,the IOC got it right,and in a controversial Olympiad and an often turbulent world every small difference adds up.

                                 blyndpapaya