Olympic vulnerability

London has undergone a massive reconditioning in preparation for hosting the 2012 Olympics, billions of Euros have been spent and will be spent in construction, housing, security and other necessities of the Games. But the same vulnerabilities remain, and will likely not change for a very long time.

To begin with, the International Olympic Committee does not really run the individual events of the Games themselves. Each sport is run by its own International Federation (IF). This lends the Games to the partisanship and politics which are endemic to each sports’ association. We saw this firsthand when Onyok Velasco was blatantly cheated of a gold medal in boxing in Atlanta in 1996. We saw this two decades earlier when the US was denied a gold medal in men’s basketball which they had already won. This is also why very few protests ever prosper. Once the Olympics is over, the IFs go back to business as usual. If they are known to be corrupt or unfair, that will not change. They graft their existing culture onto wherever the Olympic venue is. Though there are rare exceptions (like the return of Jim Thorpe’s two gold medals after six years), this is the biggest vulnerability of the Olympic movement, the lack of organizational infrastructure.

The Olympics is also increasingly becoming an exclusive club, what with the cumbersome number of sports already in the Games, and the difficulty of staging them. The final bill for London will be well into the tens of billions of pounds, and may only really be known years from now. Most Olympic hosts until 1984 paid for their bravado dearly by falling into debt or ending up with white elephant that were largely unused after the quadrennial games. Some countries find it difficult to conceive a bid for hosting simply because of the economic toll it would take. Host countries also have the privilege of nixing certain sports if they say they don’t have venues for them. 

And speaking of venues, this is one area where host countries have problems jumping into the fray. Unlike roads, dormitories and other reusable facilities, sometimes, sports complexes built exclusively for the Olympics remain unused after the Games are over. Because of their sheer size and expense, they become intimidating hulls that echo of those days and perhaps the Paralympics after, but are not as inviting unless they can be converted into venues for concerts and conventions. Also, given their size, many of them are out of the way, in areas where big tracts of land are cheaper and more readily available, and sadly beyond the reach of public transportation. 

On a simpler level, the competition itself if getting crowded. Twice, the Philippines has won gold medals that haven’t counted in the medal standings. Arianne Cerdeña took home a gold from Seoul in 1988 when bowling was just being introduced. To this day, bowling is not a medal sport. It’s gotten to the point that, for a new sport to come in, they may have to take an old member sport out. And existing member sports have a greater chance of adding new sports in the guise of new events than non-member sports. Another trend is the staging of competitions similar to the Olympics, like the Youth Olympic Games, World Indoor Games, etc., which help diffuse the pressure of bringing new sports into the Olympic program. 

For a new sport to make it into the Olympics, it will need to have massive participation in more than 70 countries, tens of millions of dollars in lobbying, and at least three Olympic cycles (or twelve years). This is a challenge to both the patience and organizational resources of any International Federation. Along the way, the bid itself could fall prey to petty politicking, or its proponents could fall ill, expire, run out of funds or simply give up. It is a challenge which is, in itself, for the gods. If you don’t love the sport, you won’t even try to get into the Olympics.

Also, the Olympics are inescapably European in demeanor and slant. Looking at the line-up of sports in both Summer and Winter Olympics, most spots are part of an age-old staple of European upper class, with a few exceptions. This pattern is also evident in their voting procedure, which has its own flaws, as well. Chicago was a strong contender in the bidding for this year’s Games. Natives like Oprah Winfrey were winning points with their pitch for their city. But some IOC voting members were apparently irked when US Secret Service supposedly tightened security at their hotel when the Obamas came to town to throw their weight behind the Windy City. That hurt more than it helped. The Europeans felt slighted by the audacity of the Americans, and it hurt the vote for Chicago.

This is not to say, however, that hosting the Olympics is a sure way to fail. With proper funding and advertiser support, it is the largest showcase of mankind’s unity the world has ever known, it has healed nations and their relationships with their neighbors, created many touchstones of human achievement, and inspired millions to achieve what they once thought was impossible. Hopefully, the Olympics will not give way to commercialism and corruption, and remain a symbol for what is truly best in all of humanity.