Milan and the Olympics: a chance for world peace?

In Antiquity, the Olympic Games were much more than a sporting competition: they were a 'Truce'. A truce sacred and inviolable. There was no war or battle that could justify not abandoning arms and stopping hostilities, at least for the duration of the sporting event. The Olympics were a celebration of ἀρετή : the innate aptitude within each of us to indulge and fulfil our innate virtue, our life mission, our vocation to the best of our ability.

 In this case, the sporting one, where human beings try to overcome themselves and their limits. The first Games date back to 776 B.C. and were held in the legendary site of Olympia, at the sanctuary dedicated to Zeus, immediately taking on not only a sporting but also a religious character. They were not mere contests, but a collective ritual through which the Hellenic πόλεις recognised a moment of common belonging, net of any political or military rivalry. The prize was not money, or its equivalent, but consisted simply of a crown woven with sacred olive branches, a symbol of peace and immortality: the prize was in fact represented by honour, not by the possession of something material. The Truce was born in that context to allow pilgrims, athletes and spectators to move from the cities without having to fear ambush or assault. Sport as a unifying force, capable of breaking up even the fiercest hostilities. From then on, a pattern was consolidated that was destined to last for centuries: the Olympics merged the celebration of individuality, but at the same time the joy and pride of belonging to a particular community, into a single moment. During this suspension of the temporal dimension, the running, jumping, discus and javelin throwing, pentathlon and equestrian competitions alternated: the opponents competed only as athletes, not warriors.

The same applies to snow and ice sports, which were not introduced until much later, in 1924, at the turn of the two world wars. The Games of the Past found new life when Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894, endeavouring to make them once again the natural bridge between divided peoples. If for de Coubertin, the inventor of the modern Olympic Games, the motto was 'the important thing is to participate', the ancient Greeks were less inclusive: 'the important thing is to win'. Only victory, in fact, led to glory and brought the athlete closer to the gods. At that time, team games did not exist: victory only belonged to the individual. Now, for the first time in history (and after Rome, 1960), Milan, together with Cortina and other Alpine resorts, will host the Winter Olympics, returning to be, for almost a month, the virtual capital of the planet, as happened about ten years ago with the Expo.

The Lombard metropolis will thus become the epicentre of a global meeting of peoples. And it will remind us that sport can uplift, or at least alleviate, us from everyday conflict. For the illustrious and industrious city of Lombardy, this is not only an extraordinary showcase, but an opportunity to show itself to be the capital of higher values, in addition to those already acclaimed and recognised by the world - finance and culture, fashion, design, technology and more. To be supplemented, however, with supreme and timeless values such as peace, respect, cooperation and friendship between peoples. The message is clear: the Olympic competition will never be a battlefield, but a neutral place of encounter and dialogue. This was the most authentic 'purpose' of the Games in Ancient Greece. Milan will soon become a global theatre of ἀρετή , sporting and otherwise. Just a few weeks before the start of the competitions, we are almost there. Let us all stop by then. Let us also stop words, leaving space only for silence and stopwatches. Perhaps Milan is not yet aware of it, but the much-needed peace could arise right here, in the shadow of one of Europe's most impressive Gothic-Renaissance cathedrals. The making of history is just a match away. We light the Olympic torch and with it the preparatory truce for peace. Time is running out, but Milan can once again become, perhaps this time for good, the moral capital of Europe.