Seeing sports as unifying is not a new concept.
Earlier this week, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach spoke to an audience that included French President Emmanuel Macron and other officials, addressing the importance of promoting “Olympic values” during a period of overwhelming global conflict.
He later met with hundreds of Olympic athletes in the Olympic Village to share a message, “Give peace a chance.”
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“When our founder, Pierre de Coubertin, revived the Olympic Games 130 years ago — right here in Paris — he saw it as a way to promote peace among all nations and people of the world. He was a true ambassador for peace. Today, you — the Olympic athletes — you are the peace ambassadors of our time,” Bach said.
It’s a sentiment two-time Olympic gold medalist Ryan Crouser shares.
“It’s been a long time since we, as the world, have kind of had a proper Olympics,” Crouser told Fox News Digital in an interview Wednesday.
“Tokyo did a fantastic job given the cards that they were dealt. I mean, it was difficult to have an Olympics during a pandemic. And the fact that they even had one was a testament to their commitment and the effort that went in. But I feel like it missed the key component of the Olympics, which is seeing the world come together and kind of unite through sport.”
At a time when political turmoil seems abundant, Crouser agrees this Olympics seems especially important, and the timing couldn’t be better.
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“The whole purpose of the Olympics is seeing what unites us instead of seeing what our differences are. And we come together for friendly competition, but at the end of the day, the closing ceremony is such a fitting metaphor for the Olympics — seeing all the athletes [come] together just in one big melting pot and go and celebrate what truly makes the Olympics. And, so, I feel like that aspect on a global level is very important.”
But that message rings especially true for Americans during a period Crouser described as “probably the most divided we’ve ever been.”
“I think just giving people the opportunity to come together and see that both sides of the aisle, different sides of belief spectrums, all can cheer for the same uniform is something really important. The commonalities that we can find right now are more important than the differences.”
Speaking to Fox News Digital on behalf of his partnership with Nulo, Crouser is preparing to compete in his third Olympics. Widely considered the best in his sport, the former University of Texas standout is looking to defend his gold medal in the shot put for the third consecutive Games.
He won his first gold in London in 2012 and again in Rio in 2016.
Crouser, 31, is also a three-time world champion and has four NCAA shot put titles from his time with the Longhorns. He holds the world record in both the indoor and outdoor shot put.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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