The Rio Summer Olympics have come to an end and managed to hang on despite difficulties. One month prior to the start of the Games, a rotting corpse was found floating in Guanabara Bay where the sailing events were supposed to take place and things kept getting worse as the Games were slated to begin.
 |
| Rampant crime in the street of Rio |
The Zika virus was on everyone's mind, and even the Olympic flame took a hit when it was extinguished by rioters.
 |
| Garbage and sewage in Guanabara Bay |
 |
| Evi Van Acker |
The illness had a devastating effect on Van Acker as it kept her from her usual training It also affected her performance at the Games as the virus' effect stayed with her and depleted her physical stamina during her event. In short, the pre-Olympic podium favorite had her hopes for a medal stolen though no fault of her own.
"Evi caught a bacteria in early July that causes dysentery," said her coach. "Doctors say this can seriously disrupt energy levels for three months. It became clear yesterday that she lacked energy during tough conditions. She could not use full force for a top condition."
 |
| Jenn Suhr |
The Suhrs took every conceivable precaution. They brought their own food from the States and drank only bottled water.
Rio Athletes had to cope with third world conditions in the Olympic Village. Intermittent electricity, no hot water, no shower curtains, blocked toilets, leaking pipes and exposed wiring greeted the athletes upon arriving at the Village. There was horrible lighting in many stairwells and the floors were in dire need of cleaning. Using bathroom faucets caused water to leak and come through the ceilings, resulting in large puddles on the floor around cables and electrical wiring. Electrical short circuits were common.
The icing on the cake was when the Olympic competition diving pool turned green from an algae bloom midway through the events. That provided a great optic for the TV cameras. Divers were told not to worry - the pool was safe for use ... I guess in the grand scheme of things, it was probably the safer than most of the other water sources in town.
The IOC is soccer's FIFA on steroids when it comes to graft and corruption. And its example is followed by the local organizing committees.
The Rio Games? Olympic infrastructure development was awarded to contractors after kickbacks and payoffs were agreed upon. Politicians who were at the root of Brazil's wider corruption scandal that had destabilized the government were at the forefront of the suspects implicated in the payoffs. Although nothing has been proven, it would strain the imagination to believe that some of these funds did not end up in the IOC's dirty hands.
This is nothing new. Corruption and the Olympic Games have gone hand in hand for quite some time and is the rule rather than the exception. French prosecutors are currently investigating allegations that the IOC’s decision to award the Summer Gamers to Tokyo in 2020 was greased by payoffs.
It is no secret that Tokyo’s bid for the 2020 Games involved payments of some $1.5 Million to secret accounts held by none other than Papa Massata Diack, a former International Association of Athletics Federation marketing fixer who has been banned from athletics for life.
This wasn't Japan's first rodeo when it came to bidding on Games and the Japanese learned their lessons very well from their experience in bidding on the 1998 Nagano Games. Nagano was selected to host the Games after wining and dining IOC members, providing them with trips to luxury hot spring resorts, first-class air tickets, and geisha companionship. IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch was housed in the most expensive suite at the Hotel Kokusai 21, bought and paid for by the Nagano Olympic Committee at a total price tag of $71,000.
During the Nagano bidding process, Japan also secured corporate contributions to build an Olympic museum in Switzerland .
All of these shenanigans were documented in several cardboard boxes that contained the Nagano bid. When rumors circulating about the payoffs began to swirl and the many irregularities began to generate scrutiny, the files were mysteriously destroyed in a fire.
Nagano simply took a page from the Salt Lake City playbook. In 1998, it was revealed that the 2002 Salt Lake City Games involved bribes, offers of scholarships, medical care, dubious real estate deals and even sexual favours during the bidding process. Bribes of up to $1 Million for IOC members and payoffs to agents of between $3 Million to $5 Million for committee member votes were uncovered. The corruption was so endemic that 10 members of the IOC were ultimately expelled or resigned.
With the IOC, corruption is only equaled by its pompousness. Oslo sought to host the Winter Games in 2022 ... until the IOC came up with a list of demands that were non negotiable. Demanding to be treated like the let-them-eat-cake aristocrats they believe themselves to be, the IOC demands included:
2. The Ridiculous Costs Associated With Hosting The Games
Hand in hand with the IOC's corruption, greed, and a diva attitude, fewer cities are willing to host the Olympic Games because of the ridiculous costs that have become part of hosting the Games. Cities that would be ideal Olympic hosts and could afford to host the Games will not bid for the Olympics any more. Local governments and the public they represent have become increasingly unwilling to shoulder the massive costs associated with hosting the Games.
Three of the last four Olympic Games cost more than $10 billion. Beijing 2008 and Sochi 2014 cost a staggering $43 billion and $51 billion, respectively.
The Polish city of Krakow withdrew its bid for the games a day after a citywide referendum where 70 percent of voters came out against hosting the Olympics. "Krakow is closing its efforts to be the host of the 2022 Winter Games due to the low support for the idea among the residents," said mayor Jacek Majchrowski.
The dominoes have not stopped falling. Voters in Munich rejected their proposed Olympic bid. "The vote is not a signal against the sport," said a lawmaker, "but against the non-transparency and the greed for profit of the IOC."
Stockholm pulled its bid when Sweden's ruling party declined to fund the games. They cited the pointlessness of paying hundreds of millions for facilities that would be used for the Games and then would sit unused thereafter. "Arranging a Winter Olympics would mean a big investment in new sports facilities, for example for the bobsleigh and luge. There isn't any need for that type of facility after an Olympics."
Can you blame them? A Google search of Olympic facilities from past Olympic games provides page after page of images depicting once-state-of-the-art athletic infrastructure in ruins.
So Where Do We Go?
 |
| Conditions in the Rio Olympic Village |
 |
| Algae bloom in the Rio Olympic diving pool (L) |
So how is it that we ended up sending athletes to a place where they couldn't safely walk the streets at night, where they were housed in substandard conditions, where they ran the risk of contracting a virus simply by coming onto contact with the very water in which they had to compete, and where they couldn't even take a shower in their rooms?
Three reasons.
1. The IOC Is A Pompous, Corrupt, Governing Body.
1. The IOC Is A Pompous, Corrupt, Governing Body.
 |
| Thomas Bach, President of the IOC since 2013 |
The Rio Games? Olympic infrastructure development was awarded to contractors after kickbacks and payoffs were agreed upon. Politicians who were at the root of Brazil's wider corruption scandal that had destabilized the government were at the forefront of the suspects implicated in the payoffs. Although nothing has been proven, it would strain the imagination to believe that some of these funds did not end up in the IOC's dirty hands.
 |
| Papa Massata Diack, former disgraced associate of the IAAF |
It is no secret that Tokyo’s bid for the 2020 Games involved payments of some $1.5 Million to secret accounts held by none other than Papa Massata Diack, a former International Association of Athletics Federation marketing fixer who has been banned from athletics for life.
This wasn't Japan's first rodeo when it came to bidding on Games and the Japanese learned their lessons very well from their experience in bidding on the 1998 Nagano Games. Nagano was selected to host the Games after wining and dining IOC members, providing them with trips to luxury hot spring resorts, first-class air tickets, and geisha companionship. IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch was housed in the most expensive suite at the Hotel Kokusai 21, bought and paid for by the Nagano Olympic Committee at a total price tag of $71,000.
All of these shenanigans were documented in several cardboard boxes that contained the Nagano bid. When rumors circulating about the payoffs began to swirl and the many irregularities began to generate scrutiny, the files were mysteriously destroyed in a fire.
Nagano simply took a page from the Salt Lake City playbook. In 1998, it was revealed that the 2002 Salt Lake City Games involved bribes, offers of scholarships, medical care, dubious real estate deals and even sexual favours during the bidding process. Bribes of up to $1 Million for IOC members and payoffs to agents of between $3 Million to $5 Million for committee member votes were uncovered. The corruption was so endemic that 10 members of the IOC were ultimately expelled or resigned.
With the IOC, corruption is only equaled by its pompousness. Oslo sought to host the Winter Games in 2022 ... until the IOC came up with a list of demands that were non negotiable. Demanding to be treated like the let-them-eat-cake aristocrats they believe themselves to be, the IOC demands included:
- Meeting Norway's King prior to the opening ceremony.
- A cocktail reception to follow the meeting with Norway's King with all drinks paid for by the Royal Palace or the local organizing committee.
- Separate traffic lanes created on all roads where IOC members would travel, reserved exclusively for IOC members. and not to be used at any time by the public or by public transportation.
- A welcome greeting from the head of the local Olympic delegation.
- Hotel manager to be present in IOC members' rooms along which are to have "seasonal fruit and cakes".
- The hotel bar at the IOC hotel to extend its hours “extra late”.
- Hotel room minibars must be stocked with Coca Cola products.
- The IOC president shall be welcomed "ceremoniously" at the airport when he arrives.
- The IOC members should have separate entrances and exits to and from the airport.
- During the opening and closing ceremonies, a fully stocked bar to be available. During competition days, wine and beer deemed acceptable at the stadium lounge.
- IOC members shall be greeted with a smile when arriving at their hotel.
- IOC hotel meeting rooms shall be kept at exactly 20 degrees Celsius at all times.
- The hot food offered in the lounges at venues should be replaced at regular intervals, as IOC members might “risk” having to eat several meals at the same lounge during the Olympics
- Street lights synchronized to prioritize IOC traffic
- Samsung phones for all IOC members
- All furniture must have "Olympic appearance."
To the great credit of Oslo, it told the IOC where to stick their Games and withdrew its bid. That left Beijing and Almaty (Kazakhstan). Beijing doesn't have a usable ski mountain within 120 miles. Kazakhstan is the poster child for corruption.
But that's what we're left with. Because of the IOC's graft, corruption, diva-like attitude, and...
But that's what we're left with. Because of the IOC's graft, corruption, diva-like attitude, and...
2. The Ridiculous Costs Associated With Hosting The Games
 |
| Opening ceremonies in Sochi |
Three of the last four Olympic Games cost more than $10 billion. Beijing 2008 and Sochi 2014 cost a staggering $43 billion and $51 billion, respectively.The Polish city of Krakow withdrew its bid for the games a day after a citywide referendum where 70 percent of voters came out against hosting the Olympics. "Krakow is closing its efforts to be the host of the 2022 Winter Games due to the low support for the idea among the residents," said mayor Jacek Majchrowski.
 |
| The ski jump remnants from the Sarajevo Winter Games |
The bid from Davos/St. Moritz, Switzerland also fell apart after being rejected by a public referendum.
 |
| The aquatics center from the Athens Olympics today |
Can you blame them? A Google search of Olympic facilities from past Olympic games provides page after page of images depicting once-state-of-the-art athletic infrastructure in ruins.
So Where Do We Go?
Unless there is a movement to reverse course, clean up the IOC, and inject some sanity into how the Games are hosted, the Olympics may soon be a thing of the past. Or, the only sites where the Games will take place will be in countries that want the world to believe that they're doing just fine, thank you very much. Like Russia. And China. And Kazakhstan.
If I was King of the World, here's what I would do. I'd start by cleaning house at the IOC and getting rid of everyone. A new IOC would emerge made up of the heads of each country's Olympic Committee. That group would elect a new President and he/she would run the IOC for a specified term. At the end of the term, that individual would be replaced and would not be eligible to serve as President again. Eight years seems like a reasonable time frame encompassing two sets of Olympic Games.
Next, to eliminate all the corruption inherent to awarding the Olympics to cities, the most logical thing to do is have a permanent site for both the Summer and Winter Games. It only makes sense to locate the Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece since that is where the Olympics began.
Given how flush the IOC is in terms of cash, it could easily front all, if not most, of the costs associated with building the necessary facilities. Those funds could be supplemented by the massive television revenues and through corporate sponsorships. If necessary, the right to name the various stadiums could be auctioned off to corporate sponsors to generate additional cash. Each corporate sponsor would be responsible for the maintenance associated with the facility that bears its name.
If I was King of the World, here's what I would do. I'd start by cleaning house at the IOC and getting rid of everyone. A new IOC would emerge made up of the heads of each country's Olympic Committee. That group would elect a new President and he/she would run the IOC for a specified term. At the end of the term, that individual would be replaced and would not be eligible to serve as President again. Eight years seems like a reasonable time frame encompassing two sets of Olympic Games.
Next, to eliminate all the corruption inherent to awarding the Olympics to cities, the most logical thing to do is have a permanent site for both the Summer and Winter Games. It only makes sense to locate the Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece since that is where the Olympics began.
Given how flush the IOC is in terms of cash, it could easily front all, if not most, of the costs associated with building the necessary facilities. Those funds could be supplemented by the massive television revenues and through corporate sponsorships. If necessary, the right to name the various stadiums could be auctioned off to corporate sponsors to generate additional cash. Each corporate sponsor would be responsible for the maintenance associated with the facility that bears its name.
A suitable, neutral site would be selected for the Winter Games where snow is plentiful and the mountains are not 120 miles away. Switzerland has always been neutral so that would be my pick. Just as with the Summer Games, construction costs for the necessary facilities would come from the IOC, TV revenues, and corporate sponsorships.
The venues would be available year round for athletes to train. Each country's Olympic Committee would be allowed to send a specified number of athletes to live there and train for free. Additional athletes would also be welcome but subsidized by the country that sends them. Being able to train at the very venue(s) where athletes would compete every four years would acclimate them equally to the facilities and eliminate the advantage that host countries have today. Arguably, Greece and Switzerland would have a potential advantage but nowhere near to the degree enjoyed under today's system
Easy peezy, lemon squeezie. No more polluted sailing venues. No more athletes dodging bullets on their way to their events. No more payoffs, pompousness, or corruption. Making the Games all about the athletes instead of about having the right stuff stocked in a minibar.
The venues would be available year round for athletes to train. Each country's Olympic Committee would be allowed to send a specified number of athletes to live there and train for free. Additional athletes would also be welcome but subsidized by the country that sends them. Being able to train at the very venue(s) where athletes would compete every four years would acclimate them equally to the facilities and eliminate the advantage that host countries have today. Arguably, Greece and Switzerland would have a potential advantage but nowhere near to the degree enjoyed under today's system
Easy peezy, lemon squeezie. No more polluted sailing venues. No more athletes dodging bullets on their way to their events. No more payoffs, pompousness, or corruption. Making the Games all about the athletes instead of about having the right stuff stocked in a minibar.
Just my two cents, if I was King of the World.
No comments:
Post a Comment