The late Nelson Mandela understood the true power of sports — sportsillustrated.cnn.com

All nations need symbolic moments at which the people, gripped by a sense of energy and idealism, become united. For the majority of countries, those moments come at the end of a war or after a revolution; for the modern South Africa, bitter and hard as the struggle against apartheid was, rebirth came on the sports field. That the late Nelson Mandela was a great man and a great leader can hardly be doubted, but what can be overlooked is what a great politician he was. He saw the value of sport and, in two key moments, used it to bring a sense of togetherness to South Africa. In sports, the dream of the Rainbow Nation became, however briefly, however illusory, flesh: it offered a glimpse of something transcendent. Mandela died Thursday at age 95.

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