Keep Dreaming!

This month brings with it the long-awaited and much anticipated Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. For many of us, the belated Games bring a much-needed source of distraction, excitement, joy and most importantly, inspiration.

I have found myself over recent days switching off from the daily news updates of COVID infection rates around the country and the world, and instead of switching to live footage and replays of remarkable sporting achievements and nail-biting competition.  But mostly I have been touched by the incredible life stories of so many of this year's Olympians.  These stories represent the best of what we call the Olympic Spirit and the Olympic Values.

According to the International Olympic Committee, the mission of Olympic Spirit is to build a peaceful and better world in the Olympic Spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.  Olympic Spirit strives to inspire and motivate the youth of the world to be the best they can be through educational and entertaining interactive challenges. Olympic Spirit seeks to instil and develop the values and ideals of Olympism and to promote tolerance and understanding in these increasingly troubled times in which we live, to make our world a more peaceful place.

The five values of the Tokyo Olympic Games focus on what the Japanese call the five pillars of educational values:

1.  Joy of Effort

2.  Fair Play

3.  Respect for Others

4.  Pursuit of excellence; and

5.  Balance between body, will and mind. 

These values and the spirit we associate with Olympians have come to life for me in the unique and diverse personal stories of the athletes.  Here are just a few examples:

There's Australian Owen Wright, who secured the first-ever bronze medal in the Olympic debut for the sport of surfing, who five years ago had to learn to walk again after suffering a traumatic brain injury.

Then there's the story of Indian weightlifter Miribai Chanu, the youngest of six siblings who battled poverty, injury and depression to win an Olympic silver medal - only the second time in India's history.

There's Syrian refugee Olympic swimmer Yusra Mardini, who at 17 years of age escaped Syria and swam for three hours whilst guiding to safety the sinking boat she was in and therefore protecting the lives of the 14 other passengers on board.

And the story of the German gymnastic team, who chose at this year's Olympics to be the first nation to wear unitards that stretched to their ankles as a push back against the sexualisation in gymnastics and the sport's culture, which has allowed for abuse and objectification of young women and girls for too long. 

I can’t wait to hear more of these Olympic stories of resilience, persistence, dedication and triumph. 

Now more than ever we need to be inspired and to be reminded that we should all keep dreaming, keep the flame of hope alive and do all that we can to be the change in our world and the world around us.