Global sports community calls for more solidarity

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach said on March 11 that the Chinese Olympic Committee will provide additional vaccines to participants of both Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games and Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games.

Expressing his gratitude, he said the offer is “in the true Olympic spirit of solidarity.”

Bach said that the IOC will pay for these additional doses.

After being re-elected for an additional four-year term as the IOC President, Bach suggested to add “together” into the Olympic slogan of “faster, higher, stronger.”

His suggestion is reasonable. During the past year, the global sports community needed solidarity more than any time in history, especially when it was facing the lockouts of major sports events, the difficult situation of sports organizations, and the loss of income of a number of athletes. None of the above challenges can be dealt with by any single party. They need to be addressed with solidarity.

The power of solidarity comes from within the global sports community. Given the lack of income of athletes, sports organizations including the World Athletics tried their best to resume games. Facing the shortage of available training facilities and sites, many athletes shared resources with each other. During the pandemic, the IOC, the International Federation of Association Football, and other organizations also provided financial aid to member societies and athletes, lending a hand to the organizations and individuals in difficult situations, so as to help them get around difficulties and continue their Olympic dreams.

Today, sports events are gradually recovering around the globe, which is inalienable to the support shown by all sectors of the society. Many events adopted “bio-secure bubble” concept, and received huge support from health, transport and logistics sectors.

Meanwhile, the sports community is also giving back to the society in its own ways. During the past year, stay-at-home sports activities became trendy. Many athletes, through social media, guided the public to stay fit and healthy at home with their expertise. Such sound interaction between the sports world and the public is also driving continuous progress of athletes.

The power of solidarity is gradually taking the sports community back to the right track, and this power is also inseparable from the future development of sports. As the cause of sports develops, it will see increasingly frequent internal exchanges, as well as an urgent demand for solidarity.

“Unity in diversity” – the slogan used by Bach when he ran for IOC presidency, is also an expectation and target of today’s sports world. Only with solidarity and joint efforts, can the motto “faster, higher, stronger” be better practiced, no matter in the games or in life.