Michael Phelps has done it.  As you assuredly know by now, Mr. Phelps has won 8 gold medals this Olympics surpassing Mark Spitz’s 7 golds in the ’72 games.  There are constant debates of whether or not Phelps is the greatest Olympic athlete of all time.  Based on one’s criteria the arguments on both side have merit.  But that’s not what’s on my mind.

There’s been other discussions regarding how this accomplishment has eliminated borders.  There are people all over the world who have been rooting for Phelps to break the record.  There were even Chinese people at the games who began chanting “USA. USA.”  columnists all over have hailed this as an example of how the world can come together and forget about nationalism.  Something is lost though as I don’t feel it’s so much about being part of one world as it is witnessing history.

Tragedy struck the Olympics early on as the in-laws for volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon were attacked with his father-in-law being fatally wounded.  Nations expressed sorrow for what happened and I would imagine some are secretly rooting for the Americans to do well or even win the tournament.  The Chinese organizers were quick to condemn the act and offer condolences to the family and the entire United States Olympic team.  Breaking down borders?  I think not.  This was an act of a hardline, iron fisted regime trying to scrape the egg off their faces in an effort to stage the “perfect” event.  But again, that’s not the example that I’m speaking of.

Portland Oregonian newspaper columnist John Canzano is covering the Olympics from Bejing.  His columns have dealt more on the human element of these games than the actual athletic competition itself.  After Phelps won his 8th gold, Canzano wrote his column outlining what he believed to be shining examples of how people were not rooting for their own country, which shows how we’ve become one as a people.  As I read through the column there was mention of people in a Chinese marketplace who were all tuned to the race in some sort of manner.  Cheers arose as Phelps won the race and conversations carried on about the accomplishment.  One conversation struck me as to how we are still not to the point of doing away with nationalism.

Phelps’ athletic achievements will no doubt go down in history as one of the greatest ever.  Communists, muslims and others rooted for this American.  However, there was a comment by a woman in the Chinese marketplace that should stand out as an example of how far we still have to go.  She spoke of Phelps’ greatness, and how great it was that he was able to make this accomplishment.  However, as she finished her thoughts she made the comment, “It would have been better had he been Chinese.”  Yes, we will root for somebody to accomplish this feat, but it would be better had it been somebody from our own country.  This comment was glossed over by Mr. Canzano and has not been picked up by anybody else that I have noticed.

This line of thinking is what lies at the fundamental difference between people.  It’s what separates Christians from Muslims; Jews from Arabs.  Have your achievments, but it would be so much better if it were one of my own.  If we, as a people, can get past the want (or need in some instances) of thinking things are better if done by our own then we may have a chance.  Peace can not exist until such thoughts are stricken from our minds.  What gets lost in ideology and centuries of hate is the most basic thought of all.  Ultimately we are all of one race…..the Human race.