Not being an avid Olympic watcher, how I was astounded by how much criticism the IOC takes and that the Olympics are not all hugs and roses, but more importantly, not about the athletic abilities of all the participants. How money driven is our world anymore! I knew that companies paid a lot of money to have their name associated with the Olympics, but it seems like it’s a battle with how much someone is willing to out pay the other companies.
Where did the pride of nationality go? Why do countries feel the need to “clean” up their dirty little secrets or things they are not proud of just to impress those that travel great distances, when they do not do this for the rest of the time with the possibility of tourists out of Olympic “season”.
Everything is political. There is no denying or getting around it. What disgusts me even more is the fact that they IOC pride themselves on NOT being political. Even if they IOC weren’t political, they would still have to work around the politics of the country where the Olympics were going to be held.
Sometimes I still think ignorance is bliss. With me being so oblivious to this dark side of the Olympics, I still enjoyed casually watching events here and there, but with this new insight, I feel like during the next Olympics, this is all I am going to be looking for and worrying about. I probably will not even be able enjoy watching the opening ceremony without thinking of all the money that was paid to make it possible from the various companies wanting their name associated with the Olympics.
I hope I did not ruin your enjoyment of future Olympics by assigning articles that showed the "dark side" of the Olympics!
ReplyDeleteOlympics is political and there are plenty of scandals. Cities do put a ton of money into their own town to get the bid. But, it is also a chance to bring a country together for a common purpose and that is to host the Olympics. this is a way to allow a country to sell itself in a light they prefer. Education and enjoyment can bring a lot of tourism their way for years. It can give a country a sense of pride when it shows off to the other countries. And for that one moment every 4 years, the world stands still in complete unity and the host country has a front row seat.
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