“Don’t kid yourself,” says the Gypsy in Tennessee Williams’ play Camino Real. “We’re all of us guinea pigs in the laboratory of God. Humanity is just a work in progress.”
It is meant to sound bleak but in Olympic season I find those words inspiring. The Olympics is about human beings improving on their potential, defying the so-called possible and shocking the world.
Citius, Altius, Fortius. Faster, Higher, Stronger. It’s beautiful to see.
Take Adam Peaty, who tore up Rio on Monday morning with a swim for the ages — a win in the 100m breaststroke that seemed quite literally super-human. Peaty has a chest the size of HMS Vanguard and he moves through the water like a clean-shaven King Triton. He is so dominant he could win golds with a man hanging off each of his ankles — and those two would probably win silver and bronze.
After Peaty hopped out of the pool, he told a radio reporter that he was proud to “push the boundaries of the human race”. From a man less fresh faced, optimistic or downright brilliant, that would have sounded repulsively hubristic. Yet after a swim that was so so good, it was perfect.
Peaty spoke to the best of the Olympic ideal and highlighted just how much this troubled Games has to give. He is not alone. Look at Michael Phelps, out of retirement to win his 19th gold medal at his fifth Olympic Games. Phelps has set the all-time record for Olympic decoration but just keeps pushing. A win in the butterfly and the individual medley would push him through the 20 gold medal mark. That’s human progress in action.
Hopefully there will be much more as this fortnight unfolds. Just watch Simone Biles go when the women’s gymnastics finals begin tonight: the 19-year old has been reinventing her sport, with veterans saying she’s the best they’ve ever seen.
And of course there is Usain Bolt, who rewrote sprinting in 2012 and who limbers up this weekend for his final Games, aiming for a unique ‘triple-triple’ of his third 100m, 200m and 4x100m golds.
Rio 2016 Olympic Games Moments - In pictures
Shamefully there will be some athletes — too many, indeed — who are not guinea pigs in the laboratory of God but guinea pigs in the laboratory of man. Dopers and cheats. So credit to the IPC for banning Russia from the Paralympics.
But those who compete clean still deserve applause, as they continue to push the boundaries of the human race.