What do I think of the Olympic Games? My first thought is that ‘think’ and ‘Olympic Games’ have no business sharing the same sentence. Surely, the whole purpose of the Olympic Games is to relieve us of the need to think. Instead, for two weeks every four years we can switch off our brains and watch wall-to-wall coverage of sports in which most of us are not usually in the least bit interested, accompanied by mind-numbing commentary interspersed with predictably platitudinous interviews with the competitors, whose blinkered dedication to their disciplines seems to have relieved them too of any time or need to think. And all this coverage endlessly repeated until it blanks out any cogitative process in white noise. Don’t get me wrong. I’m …show more content…
I have elaborated elsewhere* my view that hosting the Olympics is a mug’s game, and the fact that cities all over the world vie with each other to volunteer for the self-sacrificial role of host is just another example of the tragic human tendency to be guided by hope over experience. In London’s case the only tangible gains for the billions spent are a pleasant enough public park in Stratford E and a stadium so surplus to any meaningful requirement that the government has been reduced to letting West Ham play around in it. The intangible effect, which is far from being a gain, is the perception that the British public is utterly enthralled by …show more content…
The days when a British entrant in the high jump cycled at his own expense to Berlin to participate are long gone. In fact, the modern nationalistic approach to the games dates from those very Berlin Olympics in 1936, when Hitler and Goebbels realised what an excellent proselytising opportunity they could be. Those propaganda pioneers are, thankfully, long gone, but others who should know better have snatched the baton from them. So teams are increasingly state-financed and state-controlled with an eye to national prestige, not always in ways beneficial to the health of sport at large. At best, the decisive factor is monetary assistance (and Britain’s recent success owes much to subventions from the lottery fund), at worst it’s medical assistance. In respect of the latter, the Russian example is so well-known as to be hardly worth mentioning, though one suspects it may only be the most egregious among
In December of 1979 Soviet forces began to invade Afghanistan and make their first attempt at grabbing new land since World War II. Jimmy Carter, who was the president of the United States at the time did not support the Soviet’s invasion of Afghanistan and decided to boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics hosted by the Soviets in Moscow. He revoked the passports of all American athletes, did not allow any U.S. Olympic athlete to attend the summer games and encouraged other countries to do the same. However, Jimmy Carter’s choice to boycott the 1980 Olympics held in Moscow was ultimately a failure because it failed to gather a large amount of support, it was ineffective in having any influence or impact on the Soviet Union’s involvement in Afghanistan,
The year is 1972 and people are ready for the summer Olympics. Unfortunately for the eager sports spectators the 1972 Munich Olympics have a much more tragic story line. People don’t talk about any records broken or international competitiveness, instead people remember the Munich Games because of the hostage situation. A Palestinian formed group called the Black September terrorist captured nine Israeli Olympic athletes. Jim McKay one of the Olympic sportscasters at the games says, “The Munich tragedy was the biggest event in my career and the most terrible.” Truly Munich’s is tarnishing the Olympic Games. Even today the impact and repercussions of the game can be felt not only with the heightened security protocol but a lasting social impact as well.
Leading up to the Games, Germany was becoming less and less tolerant to non-Aryans. German athletes without blond hair, blue eyes, or the necessary family tree found themselves kept out of associations and practice facilities, as well as disqualified from Germany’s Olympic Team (“Triumph”). As rumors of Germany’s intolerance filtered out, several nations considered boycotting the Berlin Games. The United States was at the center of this controversy as many of their athletic unions and groups petitioned the American Olympic Committee from both s...
The Olympics are supposed to be a time of peace and a time where countries could come together and be free from politics. The Olympics are also a time where nations should put away their differences and celebrate the reason why they came to participate in the games, which was to play sports. Throughout history, many of the Olympics have lived up to this expectation. At the same time, there have also been some Olympics that have not lived up to this expectation because they have been experienced boycotts, political protests, and even violence. The politics in the Olympics need to be kept out because it there is no place for it. The 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow is an example of one Olympics that was not free from politics because of the boycott started by the U.S.
The feeling is all too familiar, from the front row to the last seats in the bleachers; a
Close, Paul, David Askew, and Xin Xu. The Beijing Olympics the Political Economy of a Sporting Mega-event.. Hoboken: Taylor & Francis, 2006.. 34-35
Modern Day Olympics are a huge tradition that sweeps the screens of televisions across the world. Competitors take the arena with uniforms that dawn their countries colors and designs that are meant to resemble their designated flag. For months the news is centered around the games; the preparation, the athletes, and of course the competition. Countries aren 't obsessed, they are inspired and full of pride seeing athletes from their country compete and show their incredible skill. This tradition dates back to ancient Greece where the games began. Tony Perrottet writes about the traditions of the ancient game in his book The Naked Olympics.
With over two hundred countries participating, the Olympic Games is easily considered as one of the largest multisport event known to history. The Olympics are held at a different country, and even more rarely at the same city. For a country to be chosen to host the Olympics, the country’s National Olympic Committee (the country’s representatives for the Olympics) nominates a city (from the country they represent) that they think has potential in hosting the Olympics nine years prior to when they wish to host the Olympics. It is a two year process that consists of: Application Phase, Candidate Phase and the Election of the Host City. The country that wins the election is given seven years to prepare for the Olympics. (International Olympic Committee, n.d., p. xx-xx) The hosting country expends billions of dollars, usually money they don’t have, preparing for the Olympics. Then the question is raised 'why would a country go through so much trouble and spend an outrageous amount of money to host this event?' Throughout this discussion paper it will address all the pros and cons for a country to host the Olympics. It will also see if a smaller sports event can produce the same benefits the Olympic offers with less cost and risk.
The Olympic Games plays a significant role in the world. The relationship between it and host countries is important to investigate for comprehending cultural studies. According to Xu and Kirby (2008), the Olympic Games has a considerable impact on the expression of national identity. For example, London applied this approach to promote its national identity. This can be discovered from the BBC video called James Bond escorts The Queen to the opening ceremony in 2012 (2012): an amiable identity is perceived by the audience through presenting corgi at Buckingham Palace. Moreover, China is no exception. There is an image about the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics, it shows a spectacular drumming performance. In addition, an article about
Sports can help many at- risk youths. In order to participate in sports you need to be committed and willing to work hard. You also have to learn to respect others and accept that winning isn’t the only measure of success. Losing can build character as well. When youth participate in a sports they enjoy, they are less likely to engage in behaviors that are harmful or dangerous to themselves and others. It is for these reasons schools should strive to maintain athletic programs for their students.
We are able to see that hosting the Olympics plays an important role in the development of a country. Despite having a number of valid reasons to oppose the hosting of Olympics, we are able to reap more long-term benefits. Rebranding the country to make it outstanding enough to attract tourist and boost tourism head on. For this reason, it brings in more income for the country and creates more job opportunities in the tourism sector. This would indirectly create job chances in industrial sector. Unemployment rate goes down significantly which are able to attract more people towards the country. Citizens will be more patriotic and not wanting to leave the country. There is so much potential for a country to improve themselves, with all being said, I couldn’t disagree with hosting the
The Olympic Games. The biggest international sports competition in which the worlds’ best athletes compete from all around the world to win medals for their countries. The Olympics have been a worldwide tradition since the eighth century BC, but it has hardly benefited us as a species. Every time we have the Games, our resources are abused in order to create the Olympics we desire. Huge amounts of money are used to build venues and make medals, only leading up to the countries who host the Games going into debt afterwards. There are only rare cases in which the countries earn money from hosting the Olympics, but most of the time the debt that they get themselves into take years, or even decades to pay off. You might ask yourself, why do we even host the Olympics, if it has these huge disadvantages? The answer is because we want pride for our countries, no matter how temporary it is. Knowing this, we can safely say, that the Olympic Games do not help us grow as a species.
Most at times do not really realize how important history and its events greatly influence the way we live and what we do today! Every four years we celebrate the beginning of something that was brought up long ago, the Olympics! This great event in which, now the whole world participates in started way back in the year 776 BC. It started from people playing for the God Zeus to people playing for their country and a medal, the Olympic Games sure did evolve as the time and beliefs changed.
Volunteers are the backbone of organizing a strong and successful Olympic Games. They are the reason each Olympic Games runs smoothly and are always enjoyable to watch. What these volunteers might not obtain with money, they do obtain in a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We are able to look at past successful Olympic Games volunteer programs such as Sydney and London and construct our own for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Citius, Altius, Fortius. In other words, “Faster, Higher, Stronger.” That is the Olympic motto which is also tagged with the five rings. The Olympic Rings are an honor. The five rings represent the five inhabited continents uniting together in one place. The five rings represent something else to me; it represents the five characteristics an Olympian has…the five characteristics I have.