Olympics: Just Off Center Stage

They may not be recognizable, but they are equally Olympian

Is it still possible to offend anyone except the ghost of Avery Brundage and a few no-show Iron Curtain sports commissars by announcing the obvious, that the defunct Olympic ideal of amateurism has always been humbug? The prohibition against pros was not high-minded in its origin, it was high-hat: a snobbish social exclusion of riding instructors, fencing masters and the like who sweated for their keep and were considered high-level servants. It was intended to ensure that those who participated in this festival of...

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