Clare Bronfman

“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”

- Aristotle

Yesterday’s post brought about a question I have pondered a lot over the last year: If I had remained a competitive rider and had qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, would I have gone? I remember watching the Olympics on TV as a child – it was mesmerizing for me – like so many young children, I dreamed of being an Olympic athlete. As a professional athlete the Olympic Games signified the highest standard of human excellence, human achievement. Before the Olympic Trials in 2004, I trained diligently for hours everyday in hopes the dream I conceived as a child would become a reality.

I retired from the sport without ever achieving Olympic status; other pursuits became more important to me, however the controversy of the Beijing Olympics did bring about the question. What does it mean to allow a nation known for their disregard of human rights, a nation that believes in slave labor, in torture, and other forms of violence for their own gain to play host to such a remarkable and noble endeavor – The Olympic Games? I feel tremendous pride in the accomplishments at the Beijing Games by the many remarkable athletes, however will the atrocities of the Chinese leaders remain un-questioned masked by hosting one of humanities most remarkable displays of excellence?

What would have been the effects on the world if all of the athletes had boycotted the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in the name of upholding what is right for humanity?

If, in the next moment, your behavior would affect all of humanity forever more,
how would you behave?

Every moment is just such a moment.
- Keith Raniere