The Rio de Janeiro Olympics are in trouble due to disease, pollution, and a failing economy. So there is some speculation the games will be a disaster. The 2004 Athens Olympics faced problems as well, as did the Salt Lake City winter games. That was infrastructure and scandal, however. The athletes health were not being put in jeopardy.
I supposed something like this was bound to happen. The Olympics have become more expensive and complicated as time goes on. My suggestion would be to lessen the chance of failure by distributing the games instead of concentrating everyone in one location.
The games are supposed to bring together the best athletes every four years to compete. If you believe the competition is more important than some city wasting money building venues that get used once, then it doesn’t matter where each competition is held. Let cities bid for specific events. For example, Boston would be a perfect place for the rowing events. London as a great stadium for track and field. Rome could host basketball. Gymnastics would be a perfect fit for Russia or China. They could even do swimming in Montreal. Cities could spend a smaller amount of money on infrastructure for a popular sport in their area, which would save them money and improve the competition in their area.
The advantage is that if some city screws up their venue, it would not be that difficult to change late. There is no way the Rio Olympics can be moved six months out. If it was just the swimming happening there, however, it would be easy to move it to Mexico City or Beunos Aires. It might be tougher to broadcast, since networks have to send crews all over the World, but they do things like that all the time.
It’s something to think about for 2020 and beyond.
The problem with your plan is that the value of the Olympic Games lies in it being a bringing together of all athletes from all different sports into one venue. Suddenly a javelin thrower can become the star of the games, or a badminton pair, etc.
Yes, I am well aware of the huge financial loss that the vast majority of Olympic cities end up making. However, if you split up the events and separate them around the globe, there will be no difference between ‘the Olympic swimming finals’ and the world championships, the European championships, the commonwealth games, the PANAM games, etc.
Minor, non-team, non-traditional sports need the collective glorification of the Olympics as their pinnacle, otherwise they fade into obscurity. Just look at the passion with which these sports fight to be included in the games, and their devastated reaction when they aren’t chosen.
Alex Hayes » It’s all television. It could all be connected. The venues are all over the place anyway, what’s the difference between a few hundred miles and thousands of miles?
I’m not sure if you’ve ever been to a host city during the Olympic Games. There is nothing that compares to the “electricity” in the air as people from all over the world converge in ONE place to show their pride and cheer for their nation’s athletes.
Charles from Macon » Charles, which Olympics did you attend, and what events did you see? Did you manage to go to open and closing ceremonies?
An alternative is permanent winter/summer locations. Setting aside the financial irrationality of building entirely new facilities every four years, it seems like using the same locations would create a mystique like at Fenway, Wrigley, etc.
Lake Placid 1980: Speed Skating (Eric Heiden), Ice Hockey (No USA games), Luge
Atlanta 1996: Opening Ceremony, Fencing, Badminton, Tennis, Baseball (Gold Medal game), Basketball… many others… I spent 14 days in and around Atlanta during these games. I was in Centennial Park when the bomb exploded. I was acquainted with several athletes from the Canadian Badminton Team and spent time in the Athlete Family Center. Most of the time however, was spent just wandering the streets from venue to venue and enjoying the feeling of exhilaration from the people around us. There was not a mean word said. No pushing or shoving (even when midtown was evacuated). It was just FUN!
I could not imagine getting the same feeling from a solitary venue where only a certain number of teams would compete in the particular sport featured.
Charles from Macon » Thanks, Charles.
Janunty is correct about a single, permanent venue. Let’s help the Greek economy by re-estabishing a permanent home in Athens for the summer games. Each nation (based on GDP) that wishes to participate in the games, provides a percentage of funds to build and maintain the permanant facilities. No more wasteful spending on facilities that get used once in a lifetime.
Historically, Greece seems to be the spot.