For decades, the Olympic movement has promoted itself as the United Nations of sport, a force for fair play. Then came reports of gift-giving and other corruption in Salt Lake City's bid for the 2002 Winter Games. Hot Corner Letters Email Sports Dept. Many athletes must fight poverty in their quest for gold. A Peruvian judo hopeful takes a break in a dilapidated bathroom.
Most countries struggle to provide equipment for their athletes.
Too often, the athletes sell their spaghetti to pay rent. The IOC says it is trying to help impoverished nations such as Peru. To Lesotho, in southern Africa, where a coach trains his boxers in a bare room because he cannot afford a ring. This is where you find the true struggle, in the shadow of the glittering Games. Chance A Peruvian judo hopeful takes a break in a dilapidated bathroom.