Olympic Athletes Take Their Faith to the Games

Then, there are exceptions ...

At the 2012 London Olympics, Sikh athletes will be allowed to carry daggers, the ceremonial kirpan or three-inch, sheathed scimitar attached to a cloth belt worn under a Sikh’s clothing. Soccer officials are allowing the Sikh kirpans since they are concealed under the uniform and pose no safety issues – the same allowance already made for religious necklaces and rosaries if they are concealed. London police will allow the Sikh daggers through security as long as they are less than three inches long and carried by observant Sikhs who also meet the traditional five-point requirement of unshorn hair and beard, a ritual comb, a steel bracelet, special garments and the kirpan.

A solution to the uniforms ...

At the very first games in 700 B.C., the Olympics had religious overtones and a simple solution to uniforms. There were none. Athletes bound their hands for boxing, but that was about it. Athletes competed nude to ensure that no special gear gave anybody an advantage. That would hardly work in today’s sports environment – broadcast live worldwide. Islam prohibits public nudity, while Christianity and Judaism frown on it. Some religions are ambivalent about public nakedness – every four months, Hindu holy men of the Naga Sadhus sect beg on India’s streets clad in nothing. But many religions, such as the Mormons and the Sikhs, require specific garments to be worn at all times.

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