Prof Yunus Receives Laurel, Bangladesh Adds Name In Olympic History
By
Nava Thakuria, New Age Islam
25 July
2021
Nobel Peace
Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus Receives The Olympic Laurel Award At The
Opening Ceremony Of 32nd Games Of The Olympiad
Tokyo 2021
Man
Points:
1. Millions of
Bangladeshis found a reason this time to celebrate when Prof Yunus appeared in
the digital screen with the adorable trophy.
2. Bangladesh,
a Muslim majority nation of over 170 million population, has never succeeded in
the Olympic battles for medals.
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Nobel peace laureate Professor
Muhammad Yunus receives the Olympic Laurel award
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With Nobel
peace laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus receives the Olympic Laurel award at
the opening ceremony of 32nd Games of
the Olympiad Tokyo 2020, organized under the shadow of Covid-19 pandemic with
no audience on the ground, his motherland in south Asia incorporated its name
in the history of Olympics.
The
athletes from Bangladesh may not win a medal in the Olympics till date, but
millions of Bangladeshis found a reason this time to celebrate when Prof Yunus
appeared in the digital screen with the adorable trophy to become the second
awardee, definitely first Asian, after Kenyan Olympian Kip Keino.
Billions of
sports enthusiasts across the globe witnessed the moment when the creator of
Grameen Bank of Bangladesh was honoured with the award virtually, as Prof Yunus
did not visit Japan due to the pandemic, on the evening of on 23 July 2021 at
the restricted opening ceremony of Tokyo Olympic Games.
“I am
honoured and overwhelmed to receive this Olympic award, which is so special to
me and my country,” said the economist turned revolutionary banker turned
social entrepreneur who mentors Yunus Centre, a global hub of social business,
highlighting its mission to create sustainable social enterprises not just for
profit, but to solve people's problems.
Speaking to
this correspondent from Dhaka, the soft-spoken Bengali gentleman appreciated
the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and wished a success to its mission
to transform the world to a peaceful place for the entire human race through
the sports. Prof Yunus reiterated the pledge to create a world of three zeros
comprising nil carbon emission, nil wealth concentration to end the poverty and
once for all, nil unemployment by unleashing the power of entrepreneurship in
everyone.
Initiated
by the IOC to honour outstanding individuals for their achievements in
education, culture, development and peace through sports, the Olympic Laurel is
intended to honour awardees at the opening ceremony of each summer Olympics, where social change
maker Keino was honoured in 2016 Rio de
Janeiro Olympic Games.
Bangladesh,
a Muslim majority nation of over 170 million population, has never succeeded in
the Olympic battles for medals. The country used to send their representatives
to the summer editions of Olympic Games mostly with wildcard entries. In Tokyo,
six athletes under the guidance of Bangladesh Olympic Association are
participating in various disciplines.
The
innovative Bangladeshi banker, who made small loans available to the poorest of
the poor without any collateral, was selected for the honour for his extensive
works in sport for development, including founding the Yunus Sports Hub, a
global social business network that creates solutions through sport.
Nobel peace laureate Professor
Muhammad Yunus receives the Olympic Laurel award
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Prof Yunus also collaborated with the IOC on
several projects, including educational elements of the IOC young leader’s
program focusing on human development through peace and sport. He not only
shares the wealth of knowledge with the Olympic community, but also helps
athletes in their post-sport career development to become socially responsible
entrepreneurs.
IOC
President Thomas Bach commented that the recipient of numerous international
awards for his ideas and endeavours including Nobel peace prize in 2006, Prof
Yunus remains a great inspiration for all sharing the vision how sport can
contribute to the UN’s sustainable development goals.
Born in
1940 to a middle-class businessman’s family in Chittagong of south Bangladesh,
Prof Yunus studied in Chittagong and
Dhaka and then reached Vanderbilt University with a Fulbright scholarship to
pursue higher study on economics. He received his PhD in economics in 1969 and
after some years teaching there the young Bangladeshi scholar returned to his
country in 1972, just one year after Bangladesh was born.
“Sport
brings all human strengths and emotions into play. That gives it enormous
power,” said Prof Yunus adding that the Olympic unites the entire world in
peaceful competition, celebrating unity in diversity.
If we
embrace a new social and environmental awareness, where the economy is not a
mere science, but a tool to optimise the potentiality of individuals, he
claimed ‘we can create a new world’.
The
octogenarian reminded that the novel corona virus has brought numerous
challenges to various events including the extravaganza like Olympics, but it
also fetches a huge opportunity for the human race. Now it is necessary to put
an individual back at the centre and work together to rebuild tomorrow, stated
the author of ‘Building Social Business’, looking not to the past but to the
future.
While
addressing the limited number of physical audiences with billions of television
viewers around the world, the IOC President commented, “Today is a moment of
hope. Yes, it is very different from what all of us had imagined. But let us
cherish this moment.” He also added that selected athletes from 205 national
Olympic committees and IOC refugee Olympic team arrived in Tokyo spreading the
message of solidarity, peace and resilience to give everyone hope for the
further journey.
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-personalities/bangladesh-olympic-yunus/d/125122
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