Taking Off!

By Howard Chua-Eoan/Barcelona

, When divers leap for Olympic perfection off the open-air platform in Barcelona, their performances will be rivaled by the view -- by cable cars moving past Columbus on his column pointing to the New World; by the crown of thorns of the 13th century cathedral La Seu; by the unfinished confection of Gaudi's Sagrada Familia, its eight towers reaching to the sky even as the divers speed downward, trying not to make a splash.

Inevitably, though, the athletes will make a splash -- as they have since the ancient Games. The antique spectacle was especially ferocious, even if the prize was not gold, silver or bronze, just a simple olive wreath from the sacred tree outside the Temple of Zeus in Olympia. But those leaves were the sole prize; there was no concept of place and show -- only winning. Contestants cried, "The wreath or death!" In fact, the Greek word for contest, agon, has become rather painful in English. But the rewards of victory were enormous: places of honor, money, sinecures and the admiration of nonathletes -- a word in Greek, idiotai, that has also survived in one form in English. Get thee to a gymnasium quickly.

For most of us idiotai, though, it is too late. Today's athletes were at the gym years ago, some since infancy, honing physical gifts with the huff-and- puff of endless gruntwork, the torturous frowns of coaches who could never be pleased and the sacrifice of the life and leisure that we take for granted. So who are we to begrudge them gold and glory? Grace and strength may seem perfectly natural, but they require painful perfection. Thus with the same envy, wonder and anticipation that the ancients experienced, we await a new round of Olympic spectacle. Let the Games begin again.