Photo by Muhammad Nur Fairuz

There are images of an epic era which we have passed in our pursuit of a globalized community. With every website published, every media group merging into giant conglomerates, every generation webbing together a greater network of acquaintances, the world has appeared to become smaller. As Johnny Depp’s character in The Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Captain Jack Sparrow, states: “The world hasn’t gotten smaller; there’s just less in it.”

The images mentioned above can be epitomized in Olympic lore. Jesse Owens winning four gold medals in Berlin in 1936. Michael Johnson breaking a world-record in the 200m dash in 1996 in Atlanta, wearing golden shoes. Mark Spitz winning seven gold medals in Munich. The winter Olympics have just as many classic images. The Miracle on Ice, as the United States beat a heavily favored U.S.S.R team in the semi-finals.

Unfortunately, with the world not holding as mystery as in the past, the day of the global competition for honor and glory has left us. The Olympics have fewer and fewer reasons to take place beyond the push for the status-quo.

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