American gymnast Simone Biles, 19, secured the individual all-around women's gymnastics gold medal on Thursday with a graceful, gravity-defying beam routine and floor exercise, beating teammate Aly Raisman by more than 2 points and bronze medal winner Aliya Mustafina of Russia by a solid 3.5 points. At the medals ceremony, despite all the global tension and political intrigue, there they were, two Americans and a Russian, side by side, smiling.
Watching the ceremony, The Times of Israel noticed something else: Biles is a mass-going Catholic, Raisman is Jewish, and Mustafina is Muslim on her father's side. The International Olympic Committee has revived the ancient Greek tradition of an Olympic Truce, the goal being to protect "the interests of the athletes and sport in general, and to encourage searching for peaceful and diplomatic solutions to the conflicts around the world," including through fostering "a window of opportunities for dialogue and reconciliation." That's obviously easier said than done, but the image of a Christian, a Jew, and a Muslim from two of the world's most powerful enemies smiling in peaceful victory makes it almost seem possible.
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