Focus on America

Americans Passionate, Patriotic About Olympic Games

Americans, whether athletes or observers, are passionate about the Olympic Games.

Gordon Hylton, a law professor at Marquette University in Wisconsin, told America.gov that Americans follow the Olympics

“Once Americans latch on to a sport or sporting event, they never seem to let go,” Hylton said.

Superstar U.S. athletes such as pro basketball’s Kobe Bryant and LeBron James are playing in the 2008 Olympics in China to help restore the U.S. image as preeminent in that sport, Hylton said. The U.S. men’s basketball team finished third at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

Hylton said two other professional basketball players on the U.S. Olympic team -– Dwyayne Wade and Michael Redd -- were quoted as saying they were participating to prove American basketball is still the best basketball played worldwide.

“The allure of playing on a world stage combined with some real patriotism explains why Bryant and James and others are … willing to play in the Olympics,” Hylton said.

Hylton said it is appropriate for President Bush and other countries’ heads of state to attend the 2008 Olympics in Beijing because the Games are a “symbol of international cooperation and a form of non-militaristic competition.”

Bush would be the first American president to travel outside the United States to attend the Olympic Games, which will be held August 8-24.

Bush, a lifelong sports fan, says he is attending the Games "for the sports and not for any political statement."

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Andrew Billings, a professor of communication studies at Clemson University in South Carolina, agrees that Americans follow the Olympics “quite passionately.”

“Without question, the NBC television network will lead [American television ratings] for the 17 straight nights it broadcasts the Games,” said Billings, author of Olympic Media -– Inside the Biggest Show on Television.

The most prominent reason why people watch the Games, he said, is for “the unity they represent -- nationalism inherently provides a ‘team’ in which all people can root.”

Billings said a large majority of Americans see the Olympics as a “bonding experience … that transcends sport.” One example of that, he said, occurred when the U.S. Olympic hockey team accomplished what was called “the miracle on ice” by winning the 1980 gold medal.

Regarding Bush’s decision to attend the Olympics, Billings said given the human rights issues in China, the president would “displease a substantial segment of America no matter what his decision would be. I personally believe that the more one can do to shine a light on social ills, the better.”

The Olympics are “increasingly an economic, consumer-driven entity,” Billings said, “but that has not changed the widely held perception that winning an Olympic medal is the highest athletic achievement.”

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Jay Weiner, who is covering the Olympics for Sporting News magazine and other publications, said the event sparks “a certain level of nationalism” in the citizens of every participating country.

The Olympics “tend to attract less traditional fans,” Weiner said. “Its fair to say that some Americans will follow the Games with intensity.” Weiner has covered every Olympics since 1984.

Weiner said the attention given to the Olympics “says something about the natural tendency to root for the ‘home team,’” even for competitors in such so-called minor sports as taekwondo, wrestling and field hockey.

Bush is right to go to Beijing, Weiner said, despite an attempt to get world leaders to boycott the opening ceremonies because of Chinas policy on Darfur or recent events in Tibet.

Weiner said he shares “much of the concern about Chinas position on those matters.” But for China, the Games are a “very special symbol and stage. As an American, Id like to see our relationship with China be strong, but firm,” said Weiner.

As for top U.S. athletes participating in China, Weiner said players “with a sense of history” -- such as Kobe Bryant -- are aware that U.S. basketball has been challenged by the game’s development in Europe and Asia.

“So theres a sort of cultural pride” for why the U.S. stars are playing in Beijing, he said.

Weiner said pros from the National Basketball Association will be on many of the other national teams at the Olympics, which means the basketball competition in Beijing will be “quite good.”

He said the NBA stars are “elite competitors in search of the best games, the highest stakes. There must be an attraction to them on that simpler, but purer, level.”