Columnist Dean Juipe: U.S. Olympians told to cut back on the flash

Dean Juipe

Tuesday, July 13, 2004 | 9:38 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

It was a story that ran on the wire and caught John Kerry's attention, among others. The U.S. Olympic Committee is recommending that American athletes who win medals in Athens curtail their flamboyant tendencies.

Kerry decided to use it as part of his campaign rhetoric, making reference to it at least a couple of times in speeches to his Democratic Party followers.

His tone was predictably accusatory toward President Bush, as Kerry wondered aloud how and why America had found itself in the dilemma of sending an Olympic team to Athens next month while asking each of its members to restrain from celebrating or unnecessarily drawing attention to themselves.

Bush was but a bystander in the process, yet he was fair game by Kerry's standards. He held the president responsible.

This will be the Muted Olympics for the Americans, subdued and tempered by command.

No arm thrusting, no chest pumping, no grandstanding.

The purpose, of course, is to intentionally deflect attention away from any U.S. successes so as not to infuriate those with anti-American tendencies and sentiments.

Meek is in, brash is out as the U.S. tries to win as much as possible while bathing itself in humility and passivity. It's an odd role for the Americans, accustomed as they are to primping for TV cameras and playing to zealous crowds.

The ongoing U.S. Olympic track and field trials demonstrate just how tough this new guideline is going to be to accommodate, let alone enforce. Anyone seen Maurice Greene? His antics? His posturing? His too-cool persona?

Who's going to tell him to scale back in the Olympic spotlight at Athens? Or will he and the many others who are prone to exhibiting their emotions be able to police themselves to the extent that the Olympic Committee desires?

The Olympics are both a pedestal and a platform, grand by design and open to expressive displays (including the type of political self-righteousness that leads to such things as the U.S. Olympic boycott in 1980 and the killing of 11 Israeli athletes by the Palestinian Liberation Army at Munich in 1972).

When gold medalist Tommie Smith and bronze medalist John Carlos raised their gloved black fists at Mexico City during the presentation of the awards for the 200-meter race in 1968, it sent a message that racism and poverty in America merited attention. But such social protests are, more than ever, disallowed on the American front.

Same thing with the flag-waving euphoria that ensued on the ice after the U.S. unexpectedly won the Olympic hockey gold medal in the Winter Games of '80.

Those outward and visible acts, as well as countless others of lesser degree and importance, are henceforth all but banned by edict of the USOC. If a U.S. athlete wins a medal, he or she is going to be asked to take it in a stride that runs contrary to most highly strung Americans' gaits.

Be contrite, the athletes are being warned. Celebrate within boundaries. Measure, if not mask, your exuberance.

Take your medal with a handshake and a nod of appreciation, your country very much at war and within eyesight of the enemy.