Olympic Games: A Tradition Between Glory and Costs
Currently, the Olympic Games are taking place in Paris. Already, these games are different from all those before. This prompted me to write this article. So let’s talk about the Olympic Games.
Chapter 1: History of the Olympic Games The history of the Olympic Games unfortunately needs to be divided into several chapters. The history must be divided into the Games of Antiquity and the Games of the Modern Era.
Chapter 1.1: History of the Ancient Olympic Games The first known records of the ancient Olympic Games date back to the 2nd millennium BC, and the winner lists go back to 776 BC. This means that the ancient games took place for about 1300 years. These games also had a special counting system, the Olympiad, which was four years, and during these four years, the games took place on four islands. The islands were: Olympia on the Peloponnesus island, the Pythian Games in Delphi, the Nemean Games in Nemea, and the Isthmian Games on the Isthmus of Corinth. Initially, there was only one race over the stadium’s distance (192.24 meters). The games were a festival of honor for Zeus and the hero Pelops. They lasted 5 days. By the end of the games, there were a total of 18 disciplines, including athletics, heavy athletics, pentathlon, and horse riding. When the Romans conquered Greece, the games were Hellenized. This meant that non-Greek athletes were now allowed to participate. Everyone was invited to prove their skills, even enemies were treated as ordinary people for those 5 days. In 393, the Olympic Games were banned by Theodosius I. The games continued until 426 when they were finally banned by Theodosius II. Thus ended the era of the ancient Olympic Games.
Chapter 1.2: History of the Modern Era Games The Olympic idea was not entirely lost, and so in 1796, the Cotswold Olympick Games took place in western England. Another attempt to revive the games were the Olympiades de la République, held annually from 1796 to 1798 in revolutionary France. But let’s skip these small competitions and move on to the real games. After the Greek Revolution, the first Olympic Games were held in Athens in 1859 and continued until 1889 in the Panathenaic Stadium. The first games as we know them took place in 1896, naturally in Athens. These games were an incredible success. The newly founded IOC (International Olympic Committee) developed a rotation system, so the games were held in Paris in 1900 and St. Louis in 1904. In 1924, the Winter Games were developed. In 1986, it was decided to hold the Winter Games every two years starting in 1994, in alternating years with the Summer Olympic Games. The first Paralympics were also held in 1960. The first Youth Olympic Games took place in Singapore in 2010. Now, we come to the present day: there are 40 sports. The newest ones are climbing, skateboarding, surfing, breakdancing, golf, rugby, and 3x3 basketball.
Chapter 2: The Problems of the Games Of course, everyone now asks, “What does he mean by problems? Everything is going great in Paris.” But if you analyze it as I do, you quickly realize that there are quite a few problems. Here is an example: Since the Romans took over the games, anyone could send an athlete, no matter where they came from. This means that, regardless of whether they were an enemy or a friend, they could compete under their country and flag. If you look at the games in Paris, you quickly notice the opposite. Russia, for example, has to participate under the ROC (Russian Olympic Committee) for various political reasons. I find it abhorrent that a competition that stands for welcoming everyone discriminates against some countries but not others. If we talk politically, the USA, Israel, China, North Korea, and almost all NATO countries except Iceland should also participate under their committee and not their own countries. The Olympic Games are by no means apolitical, it would be nice if they were. However, people hate each other too much. When the games were in America, all the Eastern Bloc countries boycotted these games, and vice versa when they were in Moscow. In Munich, 12 Israelis were killed by terrorists during the games. These are just a few well-known examples, but there are certainly hundreds of others. Another issue is that the average athlete currently in Paris earns just half the income of a McDonald’s employee living in Paris. Athletes are underpaid. Many countries do not pay their athletes anything for a medal. However, there are countries like Serbia that pay more than 200,000 euros for a gold medal. Much more value should be placed on the athletes since they represent their own country. Another problem is political statements. The most recent statement occurred at the opening ceremony in Paris. Almost all the artists who performed at the opening were oddly painted/dressed, and many belonged to the LGBTQ community. At first glance, this is not a problem but something good. However, if you look closer, you quickly realize that this was a statement that the French have a lot of acceptance. Naturally, a good statement if it were true, but the French hate themselves and foreigners the most, so it’s hard for me to believe they accept people who are completely different from them. At the opening, there was also hardly a “normal” person to be seen. Thus, they gave the LGBTQ community an exclusive stage while excluding everyone else. Moving on to another problem, the costs: many of these games cost more than a state earns in a year. For example, the games in Russia cost about 30 billion dollars, which is as much as countries like Albania earn in 2 full years. Budgets are always calculated to be around 2 to 6 billion, but the IOC always demands more. That’s why only two cities, Paris and Los Angeles, bid for the 2024 Olympic Games. Initially, there were six: Paris, Los Angeles, Hamburg, Boston, Budapest, and Rome. Hamburg and Boston withdrew due to public protests against hosting the games. Rome promised its citizens not to proceed with the bid to avoid protests. In Budapest, 60,000 people signed a petition against hosting the games in Hungary. It is evident that no one wants to organize the games anymore because they are simply too expensive.
I have only mentioned a few problems; there are not many more.
Chapter 3: Advantages of the Games The games have some advantages, I’ll mention a few. When the games were held in Brazil, a new railway line was built, connecting small tribes with the capital. They also promote tourism and the city’s fame. They foster peace and more collaboration.
Chapter 4: Conclusion Overall, the games are a great tradition. The games bring peace and new enthusiasm to people, but they also come with high costs and injustices.
