Sports Olympics

Since America is the home of the rugged individualist it's no wonder that feels very little responsibility for the promotion of its amateur athletes. It is up to the aspiring runner to secure the necessary funds in order to train and qualify for the Olympics, whereas socialist countries provide for their athletes' economic and athletic needs.
The U.S. has traditionally swept the sprinting events with its black runners. This year it was a different story, as black runners from the Caribbean carried away many of the gold medals, indicating the beginning of the end of U.S. dominance in track events. 
Despite the reactionary nature of  America's amateur athletic training program Johnny Jones, an 18-year-old brother from Austin, Texas, was able to come to Montreal through community support. Jones comes from a community that raised the necessary funds to sponsor him in qualifying meets for the Olympics. The 100m was an event he had trained for only a few months before the finals in Montreal, where he made a 10.2 showing for fourth place in the finals. "My best time is 10.1 " he told me.
This community concern is the kind of interest and investment that the socialist tries make in their athletes. The people in Johnny's neighborhood made sure their best would be in Montreal. Fortunately Johnny Jones, gold medal winner in the 4 X 100m relay, will be on a football scholarship at the University of Texas. And the football field does not destroy his legs, he will probably be the best the U.S. will have to race in the XXII Olympiad in Moscow in 1980, where not only will the Africans return but so will the real People's Republic of China.
American culture offers opportunities for the amateur athlete in the form of scholarships, but when those four years are over the runner is faced with the every-day struggle for economic survival. James Butts, the silver medal winner for the triple jump, is a security guard in Los Angeles. Even though he is a 1964 graduate of UCLA, Butts has been caught in the economic crunch and in a job that puts him on a very trying training schedule.
"I train at UCLA," Butts told The Sun. "I work out from 6:00 am to 10:45, then I got to work from 1:00 pm until 10:00 and then I work out from 12:00 am until 4:00 am - graveyard !
On the evening of his victory Butts was still jubilant over the new medal which hung around his neck. "You have to pay the cost to be the boss," he said. "You can't win by looking pretty, which I know I am.
"Butts' arrogance was typical of the black American athletes, and the kind of personal sacrifice they each had to make in order to get to Montreal could explain their tunnel vision. When they met to consider the appeal of the African nations to join in solidarity with the African boycott against New Zealand's participation in the games, their answer was confused and apolitical. "When Tommy Smith and John Carlos did what they did, the Africans did not come out to support them."
 Lee Evans, holder of the 400m record and gold medal Winner in the 1968 Mexico games, recalled the black Americans' refusal to participate with Rhodesia in the 1972 Olympics in Munich. Standing in solidarity with the black African nations, they decided, "If the Africans were not running, the games would not be worth participating in.
"But request for comment on the issue at from most of the medal winners was refused. They were either busy signing autographs or dashing for the disco. It is very unfortunate that the black American athlete could not discern that there is little difference in the tragedy of riots, whether they be in Detroit, Watts, or Soweto, in South Africa.