Dmitry Guberniev and I have a rather long argument. He thinks the Olympics (any) are good. “Stylish, fashionable, young,” as one of my coaches liked to say. But I believe more and more that even though he is still young, he is becoming less and less stylish and definitely more fashionable. Now I will try to prove it.
Did you know, for example, that the 2030 Olympic Games still don’t have a home? They can’t find it. Typically, the IOC announces the host city of the Olympic Games six and a half years before the tournament. For example, Sochi was chosen in July 2007. And now there are less than six years – 2000 days – left and the location has not yet been chosen. The 2032 Summer Olympics have a host, but “our” Winter Olympics do not. They say, they search, they promise to name him soon.
And all because the Olympics represent a huge expense. Billions of dollars, euros, yuan, rubles.
I firmly believe that it was in Sochi that these costs were rewarded and will be rewarded many times over. We have created a modern tourist and sports center, one of the largest in the world. Even as a couple: at the sea and in the mountains. I speak as an athlete who comes to Sochi several times a year to train – there is a lot there at the best world level and ten years after the Olympics. I speak as a tourist: there is somewhere to stay, there is something to do.
Now try to remember when the best “winter roads” returned to Pyeongchang? And Vancouver? Even the Chinese comrades were surprised: the beautiful complexes of Zhangjiakou are in principle not used at all. Why such Olympic Games which have no effect on the development of sport? For most organizers, this seems to be a simple matter of prestige. Even if there is less and less prestige and more and more problems.
But I have no questions about the motivation of the bosses of the International Olympic Committee. Although the Olympics are expensive and unprofitable for the organizers, the IOC itself makes money from them, mainly through the sale of television rights. But for people to watch the Games, there has to be an idea, or better yet, several. That is why the gentlemen of the IOC have been “selling” the main idea for decades: sport unites, we are a friendly global sports family, united to help find mutual understanding between people. Take away that idea and the whole concept collapses. At the IOC, they are not stupid, they themselves understand this, but they still discriminated against Russian athletes. However, let’s forget our suspension for a moment. The IOC already has obvious problems.
For example, the Olympics are so expensive in part because their schedule is constantly expanding. Why is the IOC insisting on attracting more and more sports to the Olympic Games? What do cross-country skiing and freestyle skiing or curling have in common? They speak of the “spirit of Olympism”. What is it anyway?
I’ve been to Lillehammer, Norway, more than once. A small town, but somehow managed to host all the programs for the 1994 Olympics. And everyone hung out in the same place. In Sochi, if you wanted, you could watch cross-country skiing in the morning, bobsledding in the afternoon and figure skating in the evening, everything was nearby. At the Beijing Olympics, this was no longer possible – for example, I never visited the Chinese capital, it was too far from our Olympic ski village. At the upcoming Olympics in Italy, all the competitions were held in different locations – even the skiers and the biathlon were separated. And bobsleigh will not take place in Italy at all.
This means that none of the participants will feel any “spirit of Olympism”, even in theory: to do this, it is necessary to at least occasionally cross paths and get to know athletes from other disciplines. But in reality, they will see absolutely the same faces as at the World Cup stages, the same tracks and stadiums. They will only live, train and perform in two or even three security rings. Great “Olympism”!
… There will be those who will now read all this and say: “Well, my friend, you have changed your shoes, you were all looking forward to going to the 2026 Olympics, but now everything does not suit you!
Not everything is bad about the Games. First of all, the Olympics for most sports, including my own, represent the biggest audience, for some the only chance to make headlines… I’m trying to remember why the Olympics are better than other international competitions, and nothing comes to mind. Okay, that there is “the amount of prize money to win”, but that is just a consequence of the same high interest and promotion.
I would like to remember exactly that from the Olympic Games: branding, promotion, recognition.
And here I want to return to our discussion: dear Dima Guberniev, why not join forces and devote our abilities to campaigning for the creation of something completely new? What? Incredibly difficult, you say? Even without the scale of the current Olympics, this is still a huge investment that only the truly wealthy can make. But Ted Turner left at some point, didn’t he? And he created the Goodwill Games, securing his place in history. How many people can do this now? No, but they exist. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, for example. Or Elon Musk. Do you happen to have his phone number?
It annoys me (if you like, exasperates me) that we have been discussing for two years whether we were going to Paris, when they tell us in the West: we are not expecting you and do not want to see you. Instead, we could knock on the doors of those ten people around the world who can organize and fund an alternative. Preferably in Russia, but not necessary. There are many ambitious billionaires in China, the Arab world and even Turkey.
Mohammed bin Salman builds the best ski resort in the world in Saudi Arabia. And he will build it, without a doubt.
The Goodwill Games 2.0 will not cost billions like the Olympic Games, because competitions can and should only take place in truly popular sports. And there is no need to gather crowds: did you know, for example, that there were up to three hundred skiers at the Beijing Olympics? At the same time, almost all the gold and silver were won by the Norwegians and Russians. Well, why this gathering of extras on the ski slope when three dozen of the best are enough?
The Olympic Games in their current form increasingly resemble a station that has become outmoded, an outdated telephone model. It still works, but not the same. It used to be that everyone wanted it – but now the name is recognizable, but the interest is disappearing more and more. That’s why they build new resorts and release new phones. And we all need to come together and try to create a “new Olympics”. For the 21st century.
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Source : MatchTV
I am Sandra Jackson, a journalist and content creator with extensive experience in the news industry. I have been working in the news media for over five years. During this time, I have worked as an author and editor at various outlets producing high-quality content that attracts readers from different demographics.
