It’s time to bring competitive art back to the Olympics

We are now deep into the 2024 Olympic GamesAthletes have run, jumped, swum, skated, foughtdanced and shot their way up the medal table in Paris, performing physical feats that most of us can only dream of, pushing the boundaries of human achievement in a tradition that goes back over a hundred years (or a few thousand, if we count competitions in ancient Greece). Needless to say, things have changed somewhat over the years.

Let’s go back in time. A century should be enough. It’s 1924 and the famous Russian composer Igor Stravinsky is in Paris for that year’s Summer Olympics. Selma Lagerlöf – the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature – is also there. They are on a distinguished jury of artists, designers, musicians and writers tasked with assessing candidates in five artistic categories: poetry, painting, architecture, music and sculpture.

The most talented competitors in these categories can take home bronze, silver or gold, just like their colleagues in athletics. Stravinsky clearly doesn’t attach much value to the music entries, as he doesn’t award any medals. Other judges are more generous, resulting in a medal table that is headed by France, with Luxembourg, Denmark and Ireland as runners-up.

And now, jump forward again, back to the present. Can you imagine the nation sitting on the edge of their seats over the outcome of the epic poetry finals? Shirtless men, draped in their national flags, chanting the name of their newly crowned chamber music champion? Probably not, and frankly, we should all be ashamed of ourselves.

Olympic art competitions were introduced quite early in the history of the modern Games. After the ancient sporting competition was revived in the 1890s, Pierre de Coubertin proposed adding the arts to the programme in a 1904 article The Figaro.“The time has come to take the next step and restore the Olympiad to its original beauty,” he wrote. “In the heyday of Olympia, the fine arts were harmoniously combined with the Olympic Games to create its glory. This must become a reality again.”

“Can you imagine the nation sitting on the edge of their seats over the outcome of the epic poetry final? Probably not, and frankly we should all be ashamed of ourselves”

At first, acceptance was relatively slow. Only a few dozen artists submitted work for the 1912 Games in Sweden. Over time, however, it became more popular. The 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam saw over 1,000 artistic entries, with Paul Landowski – who would later design the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro – taking home gold. The arts remained relatively fiercely contested throughout the 1930s and 1940s. Unfortunately, in 1954 it was decided that the competition would be replaced by a generic exhibition.

Why the sudden change of heart? One problem was that most of the participants were professionals, which went against the founding principles of the Olympic Games (the original Admission rules declared that professional athletes were ineligible to compete). The subjective nature of art also created problems with the judging process, leading to numerous disputes and controversies.

It is now 2024 and the rules have been relaxed. Many professional athletes are allowed to compete in the Games. Moreover, Eurovision has proven that subjective art can be judged – in fact, after the ugly mess that was Eurovision 2024, many competitive culture lovers are hungry for an alternative. It is clear: it is time to bring competitive art back to the Olympics.

But maybe the prospect of filling the void left by Eurovision isn’t enough to convince you. That’s okay. There are plenty of other good reasons why competitive arts deserve a revival. They have their high-profile supporters, too. Pharrell, for example, wanted to “raise awareness” of the artistic side of the Olympics during the 2024 Opening Ceremony, urging organizers to “bring the arts back.”

Take the UK for example. With government cuts on all fronts and elite institutions closing their doors to working class creatives, the current arts education ecosystem in the country is dire.“Anything complex in form or rich in ideas bears the charge of exclusivity – a dishonest defence for barbaric cuts in funding,” as Olivia Laing recently said wrote in a plea to the new British government. “Let’s call this what it is: a conscious attempt to impoverish the working class. Art belongs to everyone.”

“Could reintroducing art to the Olympics lead to a similar increase in funding for grassroots, meritocratic arts organizations, as governments pursue the prestige of medals in painting, music or poetry?”

Of course, this “crisis” is not unique to the UK. The situation for artists is precarious all over the world, from the The NetherlandsUnpleasant Hong-Kongto American states such as Florida. Granted, some Olympic athletes have also spoken out about their lack of financial compensation during competition, but millions are invested in actually qualifying them for the games. Could reintroducing art to the Olympics lead to a similar increase in funding for grassroots, meritocratic arts organizations, as governments seek the prestige of taking home medals in painting, music, or poetry? It couldn’t hurt! Skateboarding and breakdancing already have a inflow of money for their participation in the 2024 Olympic Games.

Even if governments aren’t willing to foot the bill, high-profile Olympic participation can open up other financial opportunities, such as sponsorship. This year, Simone Biles struck a (likely very lucrative) deal with Powerade. Sha’Carri Richardson represents Nike. I recently saw Usain Bolt in an ad for some laundry detergent. Advertising for brands can be a little embarrassing, but athletes get a big check and viewers get the temporary comfort of a familiar face on TV. But many of us don’t follow sports. We don’t recognize half of these muscular people! What I’m trying to say is this: we need more avant-garde, post-internet conceptual artists discussing bodies and spaces in ads for 24-hour deodorants. We need niche autofiction novelists beamed into our homes to sell us toothpaste. They get paid and build their personal brand, and we can say, “Did Aidan Zamiri just sell me a loaf of Hovis Best of Both?” Everybody wins.

In that same vein, it’s no secret that sporting events like the Olympics are a source of (rare) national pride. And cheering on the competitors can be pretty fun. The thing is, those of us who don’t enjoy watching sweaty people run laps for minutes on end, or throw heavy objects, or do a few somersaults—just showing off?—often find it hard to get involved. But imagine if worlds collided and we were all invested in the same medal table, sports fans and art lovers and everyone in between. It could be beautiful. The nation could come together in ways that have been dormant since ancient times. In the true spirit of Olympia, we could be united in excellence of body and mind.