Olympic Fever

There’s no denying it takes a lot to win a medal. It’s an outrageous combination of skill, strength, endurance, and just a bit of luck to eke out a place on that podium. When people treat even the bronze medal winners as second class to the gold, it really is a little shameful. Winning bronze, even getting fourth place, in the Olympic Games is a feat 90% of the world will never be able to achieve. There comes this deluded impression that the silver and bronze medal winners are just getting consolation prizes. This attitude is a little sad given the amount of talent that you need to win.

That said, even the best sometimes get shafted out by pure numbers. In the 2008 Beijing Olympics China won 100 medals total, 51 of which were gold. The United States won 110 medals, 36 gold and the most medals ever won at a “non-boycotted” game. The top five countries for medals made up nearly one third of the total medals won. And just think. Of those 36 gold medals that went to the United States, eight of them were around Michael Phelps’ neck.

There are several facts that dominate the summer Olympics. The US wins swimming events, China wins the table tennis, and various African nations generally do quite well in Athletics. Also the US generally wins Basketball events, and this year they have done very well in Gymnastics. And China usually excels in Diving. And they aren’t too shabby at swimming in the long run. But this is just it. All the “ands” after the two juggernauts of Olympic standing makes those events less of a surprise. Of course the US and China will take home the most gold medals. If they didn’t something bizarre is going on.

This year had probably two of the biggest upsets in recent Olympic history. And both were because the United States lost. The first came when young Rūta Meilutytė defeated US swimming Rebecca Soni and took Lithuania’s first gold of the games. The second upset was Michael Phelps not medaling in an event. Yes, those are the two big upsets of the 2012 London games. Michael Phelps didn’t win an event and a Lithuanian trounced an American…who went on to win two gold medals in her next events. If these are the upsets we are seeing, it calls to question just what the point of watching is.

That’s a little unfair. There is a lot of good happening at the Olympics. Even though some events are more or less designed for one country to win, there is still a certain excitement built up on the competitions themselves. There is a mystique about the whole process of the games. The locations for the games are varied, international, and exotic compared to the humdrum of our day to day lives. Yet in the end, there really isn’t anything too terribly special about either the location or the people who compete. They’re just people like any other. And yet…

They are elevated to be these paragons of all that is good and holy in the world. Incorruptible and pure. The countries who win gold are rarely seen without their nation’s flag draped around their shoulders. Nationalistic sentiments cannot be expunged from the process of three people standing on a podium. Things go even further when some athletes return home. Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite has signed a decree that will give the two Lithuanian medal winners state honors. R. Meilutytė will receive the Grand of the Order for Merits to Lithuania while Greco-Roman Wrestler Aleksandras Kazakevičius will receive the Cross of Officer of the Order for Merits to Lithuania. After all he only won bronze. It’s unsettling in a way. Athletes are not being honored as themselves. They’re being honored as national symbols, literally in some cases.

A very wise gentleman by the name of Eric Yosomono compiled a list for Cracked.com of several facts about the Olympic Games that generally do not fit in to the usual impression we the people are given. We are led to believe that any city in the world would be honored to host the Olympics. That it is proof of a country’s ability to host tourists and a barometer to say that a country has overcome its struggles enough to invite the world in. Yet in E. Yosomono’s article, he pointed out a few truths. Unsettling details about the way in which cities are picked to host the games, the things those cities do to prepare for them, and the behaviors of the athletes while at the games.

This is not to imply that Olympians or the host cities should be held to a different standard. Quite the contrary. It would be a shame if Olympians couldn’t stop to smell the roses. As much as the Olympics are trials of strength, cunning, and skill, they are equally a vacation for some to enjoy a few of life’s pleasures. As for the host cities, they are simply doing what needs to be done from their point of view to insure that the games run smoothly. The legitimacy and ethics of those decisions may be questionable, but there isn’t much they can do about that. They see a “problem” and have to “fix” it any way they know how.

With the closing ceremony near at hand, the world comes closer to realizing that there is more to life than sports. But not yet. For a few more days we can all watch and be amazed at spectacular athletic feats before coming back to reality and realizing that the rent was due two weeks ago and that you should really take out that garbage, it’s starting to smell.

Eric Yosomono’s article can be found here