Time and again I watch as yet more Olympic moments turn into political theater for one group or another.

I watched Jim McKay, of ABC’s Wide World of Sports fame, broadcasting in 1972 as a terrorist wearing a ski mask peered around a building in Munich while holding Israeli athletes hostage. I stayed glued to the television until well after McKay grimly told viewers that the athletes had been killed.

I watched from a competitor’s viewpoint as we approached the 1980 Olympics.

First, I participated during Olympic trial times, going from a can-I-make-it runner to an I’m-not-fast-enough-to-make-it runner. Then I saw the chances for friends to represent the U.S. dashed when political muckety-mucks decided to boycott the Moscow games because of Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan.

(Hmmm, would countries boycott today if the U.S were hosting the ‘08 games, due to our invasion of Iraq?)

In between, I had three opportunities to witness or be part of Olympic and pre-Olympic festivities, and they brought me great joy.

I had the chance in 1984 to run more than a dozen miles through the streets of San Francisco as part of the torch relay security group. This was a wonderful opportunity to experience the joy of the tradition, with tens of thousands of people lining the streets to witness the arrival of the Olympic flame.

At stop after stop, I listened to the happiness in the voices of those carrying who carried the torch for short distances.

Later, I went to Los Angeles to see some friends taking their shot at Olympic glory. Some came away with medals.

Along comes 1996, and as a high school track coach I got to introduce some of my athletes to the joy of the torch relay. I gathered them up and we ran along through Marysville as the torch came through the area in tribute to Leslie Deniz, a Yuba City police officer and competitor in the discus.

The joy, the fascination, the feelings brought up by running along with — well, running behind — the flame, are indescribable.

As strong as those memories and feelings are, however, the sense of disappointment and sadness were just as real this week as  the Olympic torch relay came to San Francisco, only to be politicized by those working their Free Tibet theme.

I have no trouble at all with people exercising their free speech rights at public events. It was sad, however, to see the torch relay, something that should not be burdened with political symbolism, turned into a path for political protest.

Just as the Olympic competitions have lost some of their luster as the decades go along, the Olympic torch and the relay through communities has also fallen victim to less-Olympian motives.

Down goes another memory.

Dan Ross is the Register’s Multimedia Producer. He comments on local, state and national issues. He can be reached at dross@napanews.com.