Thunderfoot
Hero
So I'm forking this over from the KV controversy discussion because it was obvious that a lot 9f people have issues/questions/concerns about these last Winter Games and the Olympic Games in general. And while I'm not an authority, I do enjoy the games for what they both stand for and their intention. But, because I do care about them, I am also a very harsh critic on certain behaviours. So without further adieu... My take in Beijing.
1) The Politics. It's no secret or surprise that China is currently embroiled in some rather nasty business that is either viewed as 'humanitarian rights violations' by the west and as 'cultural integration and retraining' by the Chinese gov't. This played a large part in the undertone of both the Opening Ceremonies and the overall media coverage of the Games. The Chinese were very 'focused' in their attempts to direct athletes away from issues that they felt would 'impede their performance'. (All athletes mind you, not just their own). As a Communist party country this is hardly surprising. Thankfully, there were none of the overt 'goon squads' that other countries have employed in the past. Just subtle reminders that sport and politics don't mix.
Facilities. In 2008 Beijing hosted the Summer Games and Michael Phelps made history in 'The Aquatics Cube'. So credit where it is due. Beijing recycled several of the facilities from the 08 Summer Games into usable winter facilities. The Cube became 'The Ice Cube' and instead of swimming hosted speed skating. Kudos to Beijing for setting a new standard. Back in the Munich Games of 36, Nazi Germany began a legacy that has 'mostly' been followed ever since; you get the bid, you build all new facilities to show off your awesome. On Los Angeles has recycled any building since that time (Olympic Coloseum) and only a handful (LA included) have used pre-existing facilities to host events.
Just as an aside the next Summer Games in Paris uses ONLY pre-existing structures with the sole exception being the housing in the Olympic Village, in addition the parade of nations will be on the Champs, which is undergoing a massive clean-up amd de-polluting. They also hope to host events in the Champs (like the triathalon and marathon swimming) and hope to utilize it as a public swimming attraction post games. Italy which is hosting the next Winter Olympics is hosting dual cities but is spreading events over the entire Italian State to keep costs and new construction to a minimum and LA once again hosts in '28 and is using the LA Coliseum as well as other established sport venues to keep costs down. As a whole I say Kudos to all of these committees for changing the corporate 'one use' buildings we've seen even up until recently in Russia (all those buildings are currently sitting empty for the most part).
Events: Well... every year we say goodbye to certain events that no longer hold the public interest or that have too few attendees/participants to maintain a category for; and each country can also introduce events for medal consideration. These are not exhibition events but actual medal earning games. And well, there are some doozies in the future. In Paris the French have decided that Breakdancing (yes you read that correctly) will be their new Olympic sport. I'm hoping Alphonso Ribero will be a judge
. And not to be outdone, LA in partnership with the NFL will be debuting Flag Football. I'm unaware of an Italian entry but at this rate I'm guessing ice carving. I figure it's only a few years until we see Fortnight and MtG as sports, so dust off the skills gamers, you're gonna be athletes. sheesh (yes this is sarcasm).
National Attendance/Participation: As pointed out there very few countries in attendance to certain sports this year. This is unfortunately a side effect of the recent COVID pandemic. Also, several athletes that showed up to participate were denied when they failed COVID tests. So even if they did show, they were unable to compete. This is likely to continue, just like every other sport, until we have a worldwide handle on this thing, it's gonna cause problems. I also find it interesting that the next 3 countries that are hosting (as well as China this time) are the most notorious in the COVID saga. Not sure how that's gonna play out.
The issue of doping is still in the air, and one I'm only going to briefly touch on because, a) Russia is still having issues and that's a touchy subject and b) the current issues are still on-going as of this post and any and everything said is either opinion, hearsay or just plain non-factual. Is it a problem, yes. Are they going to fix it, that remains to be seen. Moving on.
Overall, I think the IOC is doing a pretty good job in monitoring itself for corruption and making neccessary changes as needed. Most of the arbitrary judging is gone and what does remain has an oversight board. So, yay. Also, the general, Olympic Ceasefire has, at least to this point been pretty successful. Not sure how Russia will be viewed in the coming days as fighting started in the Ukraine before the Games ended, but Russia is claiming, their innocence, so...we'll see.
Are the Games still relevant, yes, at least from a standpoint of International Sport. Are they neccessary, that's a little more vague. I would posit that they keep certain traditional sports alive that would otherwise be forgotten, and as a whole I would say, yes that is positive and neccessary. But the use of the Opening Ceremonies as political commentary and propaganda are against everything the Games stand for, so, maybe?
That's all I have for now. You all know how this works, comments and questions below, keep it civil and keep it nice. Follow the Olympic creed of playing 'clean'.
1) The Politics. It's no secret or surprise that China is currently embroiled in some rather nasty business that is either viewed as 'humanitarian rights violations' by the west and as 'cultural integration and retraining' by the Chinese gov't. This played a large part in the undertone of both the Opening Ceremonies and the overall media coverage of the Games. The Chinese were very 'focused' in their attempts to direct athletes away from issues that they felt would 'impede their performance'. (All athletes mind you, not just their own). As a Communist party country this is hardly surprising. Thankfully, there were none of the overt 'goon squads' that other countries have employed in the past. Just subtle reminders that sport and politics don't mix.
Facilities. In 2008 Beijing hosted the Summer Games and Michael Phelps made history in 'The Aquatics Cube'. So credit where it is due. Beijing recycled several of the facilities from the 08 Summer Games into usable winter facilities. The Cube became 'The Ice Cube' and instead of swimming hosted speed skating. Kudos to Beijing for setting a new standard. Back in the Munich Games of 36, Nazi Germany began a legacy that has 'mostly' been followed ever since; you get the bid, you build all new facilities to show off your awesome. On Los Angeles has recycled any building since that time (Olympic Coloseum) and only a handful (LA included) have used pre-existing facilities to host events.
Just as an aside the next Summer Games in Paris uses ONLY pre-existing structures with the sole exception being the housing in the Olympic Village, in addition the parade of nations will be on the Champs, which is undergoing a massive clean-up amd de-polluting. They also hope to host events in the Champs (like the triathalon and marathon swimming) and hope to utilize it as a public swimming attraction post games. Italy which is hosting the next Winter Olympics is hosting dual cities but is spreading events over the entire Italian State to keep costs and new construction to a minimum and LA once again hosts in '28 and is using the LA Coliseum as well as other established sport venues to keep costs down. As a whole I say Kudos to all of these committees for changing the corporate 'one use' buildings we've seen even up until recently in Russia (all those buildings are currently sitting empty for the most part).
Events: Well... every year we say goodbye to certain events that no longer hold the public interest or that have too few attendees/participants to maintain a category for; and each country can also introduce events for medal consideration. These are not exhibition events but actual medal earning games. And well, there are some doozies in the future. In Paris the French have decided that Breakdancing (yes you read that correctly) will be their new Olympic sport. I'm hoping Alphonso Ribero will be a judge
. And not to be outdone, LA in partnership with the NFL will be debuting Flag Football. I'm unaware of an Italian entry but at this rate I'm guessing ice carving. I figure it's only a few years until we see Fortnight and MtG as sports, so dust off the skills gamers, you're gonna be athletes. sheesh (yes this is sarcasm).National Attendance/Participation: As pointed out there very few countries in attendance to certain sports this year. This is unfortunately a side effect of the recent COVID pandemic. Also, several athletes that showed up to participate were denied when they failed COVID tests. So even if they did show, they were unable to compete. This is likely to continue, just like every other sport, until we have a worldwide handle on this thing, it's gonna cause problems. I also find it interesting that the next 3 countries that are hosting (as well as China this time) are the most notorious in the COVID saga. Not sure how that's gonna play out.
The issue of doping is still in the air, and one I'm only going to briefly touch on because, a) Russia is still having issues and that's a touchy subject and b) the current issues are still on-going as of this post and any and everything said is either opinion, hearsay or just plain non-factual. Is it a problem, yes. Are they going to fix it, that remains to be seen. Moving on.
Overall, I think the IOC is doing a pretty good job in monitoring itself for corruption and making neccessary changes as needed. Most of the arbitrary judging is gone and what does remain has an oversight board. So, yay. Also, the general, Olympic Ceasefire has, at least to this point been pretty successful. Not sure how Russia will be viewed in the coming days as fighting started in the Ukraine before the Games ended, but Russia is claiming, their innocence, so...we'll see.
Are the Games still relevant, yes, at least from a standpoint of International Sport. Are they neccessary, that's a little more vague. I would posit that they keep certain traditional sports alive that would otherwise be forgotten, and as a whole I would say, yes that is positive and neccessary. But the use of the Opening Ceremonies as political commentary and propaganda are against everything the Games stand for, so, maybe?
That's all I have for now. You all know how this works, comments and questions below, keep it civil and keep it nice. Follow the Olympic creed of playing 'clean'.
