Michelle Smith's four Olympic medals kept the lights burning in Irish homes as entire families sat up by their screens into the small hours to feel a sensation of pride which in these times rarely comes Ireland's way. Now those lights are being switched off to avoid the unedifying spectacle of sports officials descending to the level of a public squabble. Sponsorship, the use of brand names, publicity on television and elsewhere seem to have become as much a part of sport as the competition itself. The mind sets of officials and athletes have been pushed into a compartment of the world which the rest of us do not inhabit.
Following the terrorist explosion in Centennial Square, many athletes were reported to be barely moved by events as they concentrated on their preparations for competition. Politicians and other citizens reacted more strongly to the death and destruction which had once more sullied the Olympic Games. A less dramatic comparison of attitudes came from Sonia O'Sullivan who seemed surprised that a journalist had to ask her which brand of athletic clothing she had worn in her unfortunate heat of the 5,000 metres. Her response betrayed an innocence matched only by that of the general public.
Most people who had waited into the night to watch that race would have asked that same question. In the public mind Sonia O'Sullivan was not on the track as a representative of Acis or Reebok, of Bord Luthchleas Eireann (BLE) or the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI), but simply of her country. There was no searching out of brand names or trade marks but simply a bursting forth of goodwill from the Irish people to an Irish woman who represented their aspirations. Significantly that goodwill remains after her defeat and will continue whatever happens in the 1,500 metres. The same cannot now be said of attitudes to the officials who are also representing their country in Atlanta.
Monday's televised press conference and its aftermath gave us an insight to the official mind. It reeked of bitterness, of divided loyalties; it smacked of a barrack room lawyer mentality with its resort to the minutiae of rule book interpretations and its inability to comprehend the dismay felt elsewhere. By her presence at this dismal forum Ireland's greatest athlete was unwittingly drawn into controversy, a conflict between BLE and the OCI, which has been running for a long time and which was not of her own making. She had already, as a consequence of this dispute, suffered the indignity of having to strip in the tunnel before going on to the track. Having to sit through the bitter exchanges had forced another indignity upon her.
The current sordid situation stems from an undue reliance upon commercial sponsorship on the part of the organisations which govern sport in Ireland. Entry fees from competitors and gate receipts from major events, except in those sports which are the most popular, provide minimal revenue. Subventions from the State are helpful but far less generous than in many other countries. Understandable rivalries between sporting organisations have been exacerbated by a fight for financial survival and have led to a situation which most people have found distasteful in the extreme.