Paris, Olympic Games, who for..
Yes we hear that the Summer Olympic Games were a success.
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Paris, Olympic Games, who for..
Yes we hear that the Paris Summer Olympic Games were a success.
True we also hear that apparently in the first days , and maybe later, there wasn't enough food supplies, some delegations weren't happy with their lodgings, buses and shuttles without air con and windows locked for security purpose in stifling heat and then South Korea deployed sniffer dog(s) at Seoul's airport to detect bed bugs after their athletes came back from France...
And of course all the controversies on the cleanness of the Seine river. Although the coach of the French long distance swimming team didn't understand all the fuss, saying they go to competition in places where the quality of the water..
Even the French enjoyed those Olympic games ,especially when the medal count started to rise, to a point where their over exuberance and support might have paralyzed a few.. . Also a good occasion to put aside the political imbroglio created by President Macron with his call for early elections.
Obviously they ( the French ) had to moan and complain about the cost, the disruptions, the security passes needed to move around , road closures, the removal of some "bouquiniste " boxes along the Seine. But hey, this is French DNA . It would have been suspicious and weird if they had shown enthusiasm from the beginning. As goes the saying, " Caches ta joie, bonjour tristesse "!
All this can't hide the fact that those Games are follies for rich countries. See the Winter Olympics in Sochi with a price tag over 50 bn $. And the eternal debate of what to do with Olympic infrastructures once the party is over. The last city belonging to what we would qualify " developing countries" to host the Games would be Mexico in 1968. Since then it has been the US, Europe and in Asia , China, Japan and South Korea.
Medal count ? Again, you need money to produce champions. The US has a super competitive university circuit, western democracies have comprehensive free education systems and sport goes with it. Rich countries also provide better food ( to a degree ), healthcare, equipment and sponsors ( one of the top sponsors, Coca Cola and healthy drinking ). Medal count per capita and you find at the top countries like Norway, Switzerland, Austria ( thanks to winter sport ), Australia, UK thanks to smart funding ( focus the money on your strength and where you can benefit of economy of scale : cycling can bring many medals where as football just one, maybe 2 !).
Or you chose to promote the superiority of your system ( political ) : USSR, China, the former Eastern bloc ( remember East Germany's female swimmers). But it can have some drawbacks as the massive doping scandal of Russian athletes at Sochi showed.
You also have great successes in other places : Cuba produced some of the most talented boxers and athletes ; there are great traditions in sports like wrestling, boxing, gymnastics in many former Soviet Republics. Without forgetting those marvellous middle and long distance runners from Kenya, Ethiopia, Morocco... But again, you just need a pair of shoes.
At the end, as Baron de Coubertin who relaunched the Games 130 years ago said , the important is to participate ( although he didn't want women to participate..). Lamine Gueye from Senegal participated in the Sarajevo Winter Games in 1984, came 51st in the downhill ski competition just 45 seconds after the winner's time ( 1m59sec to 1m15sec). He was the first African to compete in a ski competition. He was sent to live in Switzerland though at the age of 8 after the death of his grandfather who was leader of the National Assembly back in Dakar. He almost single-handedly created the Senegalese ski federation after applying pressure on Senegal's long time President Leopold Senghor and got selected to compete. So guess he was a bit privileged but anyone who can compete in the Olympic ski downhill competition and finish it has already achieved something !