I’ve spent very little time paying attention to the Olympics this year. Sure, I’ve seen reports about Michael Phelps’ gold medals and world records, but I’ve also seen the questions about the ages of the Chinese women (children?) gymnasts. The Olympics were intended to be an event that would bring nations together in peace, but for all the great sports moments, there are also the questions of human rights violations (Tibet), wars (Georgia), performance-enhancing drugs (Maria Isabel Moreno, Katerina Thanou and how many others?), smog, killings, terror threats, murder-suicide, and other scandals. Perhaps the days of the Olympic ideals of Baron Pierre de Coubertin are past.
Instead of the issues of who will boycott, who will cheat, and who will dominate, perhaps the sports championships should be held in venues where they are showcased far more appropriately, without the politics, and overseen by their own agencies. Isn’t that why we have the Soccer/Football World Cup, Wimbledon, the British Open, the World Series, the Super Bowl, and so on?
In April, sportswriter Buzz Bissinger wrote a NY Times Op-Ed piece about the need to improve the Olympics… by ending them. It’s worth reading, even as you watch Phelps continue his quest.
[And, if you are a fan of women’s (children’s?) gymnastics, you might also want to read Bissinger’s more recent Op-Ed piece in the NY Times.]
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