when tunisian mohammed aziz city set himself on fire just a year and a half ago, launching the arab revolution, also called arab spring, he wasn t thinking about the olympics he and the others who would drive the protests in egypt, libya, bahrain and syria and other middle eastern nations wanted freedom from repressive dictatorial governments. but the fruits of revolution are both large and small. so athletes from the middle east will be in london, benefitting from the london spring and showing the true spirit of the olympic games. in the past these athletes had dictators who didn t allow them to participate, or they participated, thus spreading the glory of leaders they despised. in london they ll be free from the double consciousness of loving their country while hating their leader. for these athletes, medaling is less important than participation. that s the true olympic spirit. so many middle eastern athletes were part of the arab spring