What’s Wrong with the Winter Olympics

By Ari Zyskind | March 1, 2010 at 11:21 am | Life | 14 comments | |

 

I love the Olympics, both summer and winter. The atmosphere brings out the best in the competitors, from Phelps’ touch out to take his seventh goal to the USA-Canada hockey rivalry, the Olympics make for great entertainment (and often drama).

But while I enjoy the Winter Olympics, they don’t promote as much diversity as the Summer Olympics. The fact is few countries have an opportunity to compete seriously or produce medal contenders. While the Summer Olympics present an opportunity for many countries to medal, only a fraction as many have a legitimate opportunity to medal at the winter games, and the top echelon of medalists come almost entirely from a tiny handful of countries. Granted, fewer medals are given at the winter games, but the fact remains that so far only 25 countries total have received any medals at all during the winter games compared to the 80 total countries which medaled at the Summer games in Beijing.

To be sure, few countries are geographically, socially, or economically able to support the extensive training regimens of winter athletes. But of those that are able to sustain and maintain such a program are glorified by the Winter Olympics. Although it’s supposed to be a great forum and gathering of the nations, only a few have the opportunity to compete seriously.

Take Women’s Ice Hockey. Scores during pool play were 12-1, 13-1, 13-0 and even a humiliating 18-1 defeat by Canada over Slovakia. The fact that Canada defeated, by such a large margin, a country that is actually supposed to be good at hockey is embarrassing to the sport and the games. While I will always support the American team (USA! USA!), I wish the possibility existed that they might someday have to compete with some country like Argentina.

And while this is unrealistic, it also serves to point out a potential flaw in how the Olympics are delivered. I think that there is too much emphasis on medal counts among countries. I am proud of the American athletes and thoroughly enjoy watching them out-perform such dreaded countries as the Communist Chinese, I wish there was more emphasis on the achievement of those who come from these almost insurmountable odds and succeed, instead of the amount of medals they might contribute.

After all, medals are achieved through hard work and personal achievement. But without the economic support, many individuals are not given the opportunity. Korea, as of Friday night sat in 7th place, for total medals, with 14. Only one, a world record gold medal performance by figure skater Kim Yu-Na, was not a speed skating medal. Countries like Korea must focus their resources on a select few sports leaving countless individuals sidelined without ever being given the opportunity to compete.

Although I love the competition and patriotism of the Olympics, I feel that we should not be as consumed with medal counts as with the character and resolve of the athletes to achieve for their countries. We should support the Olympics as a forum where individuals from all countries can compete and engage in this great gathering of nations.

Editor’s Note: This sports column is a regular feature from “The Nightcap” crew,  made up of Ari Zyskind, Dan Campbell, Kavin Shuai, and Ned Schooler, a group of 5Cers who air a weekly radio talk show on KSPC. You can listen in online at KSPC.org (click “Hear us Online via Live365”) every Monday from 8-10 PM.

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Ari Zyskind

Ari Zyskind is a junior at CMC double majoring in government and history. He co-hosts the award-winning sports talk radio show, The Nightcap. He likes piña coladas and getting caught in the rain. He’s not into yoga and has half-a-brain. And don’t even try to out-whistle him, he’s a professional.

 
 
 
 
  • HK

    I’m a Korean and I disagree with the article about Korean athletes. In general, Korean athletes are fully supported if they are at national level. They are not sidelined just because they are not at world level.
    For example, Koreans can hardly be medal contenders in 100m sprint. However, Korean 100m sprint athletes in national team are getting so much support.
    In fact, several Korean media criticized that these athletes are not working hard because they are getting too much support. They work just enough to get government support, because they know they can’t get a medal.

  • HK

    I’m a Korean and I disagree with the article about Korean athletes. In general, Korean athletes are fully supported if they are at national level. They are not sidelined just because they are not at world level.
    For example, Koreans can hardly be medal contenders in 100m sprint. However, Korean 100m sprint athletes in national team are getting so much support.
    In fact, several Korean media criticized that these athletes are not working hard because they are getting too much support. They work just enough to get government support, because they know they can’t get a medal.

  • John

    Sorry but not all countries are medal crazed like USA. The Olympics are always about participation. You think that those participated but had no chance to medal don’t know it? And what’s so dreaded about the Chinese athletes? Like others, they trained hard and competed hard and won some time and lost some other time. What is wrong with that? I sense your American arrogance…

  • John

    Sorry but not all countries are medal crazed like USA. The Olympics are always about participation. You think that those participated but had no chance to medal don’t know it? And what’s so dreaded about the Chinese athletes? Like others, they trained hard and competed hard and won some time and lost some other time. What is wrong with that? I sense your American arrogance…

  • J

    what exactly is your point – that we should celebrate the losers as much as the winners? the olympics are abut athletics excellence, which is divorced from the spirit of competition you allude to.
    The “problem” with the Winter Games, which is reflected in the fewer medal-winning nations, is that the sports are largely less popular than the summer counterparts, both due to social factors and simple facts of weather. so let the nations that enjoy speedskating compete in it. what is so wrong with the situation?

  • J

    what exactly is your point – that we should celebrate the losers as much as the winners? the olympics are abut athletics excellence, which is divorced from the spirit of competition you allude to.
    The “problem” with the Winter Games, which is reflected in the fewer medal-winning nations, is that the sports are largely less popular than the summer counterparts, both due to social factors and simple facts of weather. so let the nations that enjoy speedskating compete in it. what is so wrong with the situation?

  • Spence

    Is that you Jacques Rogge?

    OK, lets remove all the sports from the Olympics that the Americans are good at so that the rest of the world can compete.

    (Womens softball and ice hockey come to mind).

    If Americans demanded that world football (soccer) or ping pong were eliminated from the games (or just eliminated them behind closed doorrs as eurocentric IOC chairman Rogge did with women’s softball) simply because we arent very good at it, there would be an uproar of hatred heard on Pluto.

    Take your beatings in ice hockey and softball and we’ll take ours in (men’s) soccer and ping pong.

    Stop being such whiners.

  • Spence

    Is that you Jacques Rogge?

    OK, lets remove all the sports from the Olympics that the Americans are good at so that the rest of the world can compete.

    (Womens softball and ice hockey come to mind).

    If Americans demanded that world football (soccer) or ping pong were eliminated from the games (or just eliminated them behind closed doorrs as eurocentric IOC chairman Rogge did with women’s softball) simply because we arent very good at it, there would be an uproar of hatred heard on Pluto.

    Take your beatings in ice hockey and softball and we’ll take ours in (men’s) soccer and ping pong.

    Stop being such whiners.

  • Spence

    John, Chinese athletes are selected by the Chinese goverment and trained by the Chinese government at an early age to win medals and to only win medals. Period. Just like the Soviets used to do. American athletes do it on their own time with their own money. The idea that the Chinese are not “medal crazed” is the most inane, false, and utterly ridiculous statment Ive ever heard. I sense your European arrogance…

    What a great irony that all the great East German and Soviet athletes, from Tretiak to Katrina Witt, defect to “arrogant” America once they can no longer perform.

    And, one day, so will the Chinese. They are welcome here.

  • Spence

    John, Chinese athletes are selected by the Chinese goverment and trained by the Chinese government at an early age to win medals and to only win medals. Period. Just like the Soviets used to do. American athletes do it on their own time with their own money. The idea that the Chinese are not “medal crazed” is the most inane, false, and utterly ridiculous statment Ive ever heard. I sense your European arrogance…

    What a great irony that all the great East German and Soviet athletes, from Tretiak to Katrina Witt, defect to “arrogant” America once they can no longer perform.

    And, one day, so will the Chinese. They are welcome here.

  • JW

    No offense but this has to be the dumbest and most pointless article I have read in a while. Yes this is the Winter Olympics which eliminates a lot of countries from competing like most of the African nations. The Olympics (both summer and winter) are as much about sportsmanship as they are about a nation showcasing their economic and political prowess. Take the Beijing games; that was China’s way of saying F.U. to the western powers and proclaiming their arrival as a world super-power on the political, econimic and athletic front. It was overkill in my opinion, and it showed their insecurity; but it was their coming out party and they put on a show that might not be matched in a very long time. Furthermore, your analysis of the Koreans are both misinformed and just plain ignorant. What is the difference between the Scandanavian countries dominating the Nordic events, or the Austrians who usually dominate the Alpine events, and the Dutch who usually own the speedskating oval? Each country has a national sport or a sport that they develop a comparative advantage over other nations. Not many nations have the resources to compete on all levels like the Americans, Germans, or the Russians. But still, the Koreans with only 43 athletes at the Vancouver games, made the finals in bobsledding, skeleton, and the halfpipe. They also beat the crap out of the Chinese and Japanese (in medal count) who both have a much larger population to draw talent from. That is huge for a nation like Korea who has historically been bullied by their more powerful neighbors. Yes, the medal count matters. The same can be said of the Canadiens winningvthe gold medal count and stepping out from the shadow of the US. The US dominated the overall medal count because they are not only strong on the economic and political level, but because Americans are resourceful and tough. The Koreans did well because they come from a culture where they value hard work over anything else. The Olympics mimic reality; there will be the fat cats who have it all and those who have to fight just to eat. But what is great about the Olympics is the hope and inspiration that they bring to a nation via medal count or the spirit of competition. I miss the Jamaican bobsled team. I miss Faisel the hapless cross country skier from Morocco. I miss Eddie the Eagle from the UK, and the countless others who never had a chance to win but still competed and became heros. That is what makes the olympics great. It is the perfect reflection of who is on top of the world, who is rising or falling, and of course, it showcases the human spirit to achieve something greater. Just remember that equality is an illusion. If you think that medals don’t matter, think of this Ari. If Jesse Owens just competed and not won gold in Berlin in front of Hitler, how would history have remembered him.

  • JW

    No offense but this has to be the dumbest and most pointless article I have read in a while. Yes this is the Winter Olympics which eliminates a lot of countries from competing like most of the African nations. The Olympics (both summer and winter) are as much about sportsmanship as they are about a nation showcasing their economic and political prowess. Take the Beijing games; that was China’s way of saying F.U. to the western powers and proclaiming their arrival as a world super-power on the political, econimic and athletic front. It was overkill in my opinion, and it showed their insecurity; but it was their coming out party and they put on a show that might not be matched in a very long time. Furthermore, your analysis of the Koreans are both misinformed and just plain ignorant. What is the difference between the Scandanavian countries dominating the Nordic events, or the Austrians who usually dominate the Alpine events, and the Dutch who usually own the speedskating oval? Each country has a national sport or a sport that they develop a comparative advantage over other nations. Not many nations have the resources to compete on all levels like the Americans, Germans, or the Russians. But still, the Koreans with only 43 athletes at the Vancouver games, made the finals in bobsledding, skeleton, and the halfpipe. They also beat the crap out of the Chinese and Japanese (in medal count) who both have a much larger population to draw talent from. That is huge for a nation like Korea who has historically been bullied by their more powerful neighbors. Yes, the medal count matters. The same can be said of the Canadiens winningvthe gold medal count and stepping out from the shadow of the US. The US dominated the overall medal count because they are not only strong on the economic and political level, but because Americans are resourceful and tough. The Koreans did well because they come from a culture where they value hard work over anything else. The Olympics mimic reality; there will be the fat cats who have it all and those who have to fight just to eat. But what is great about the Olympics is the hope and inspiration that they bring to a nation via medal count or the spirit of competition. I miss the Jamaican bobsled team. I miss Faisel the hapless cross country skier from Morocco. I miss Eddie the Eagle from the UK, and the countless others who never had a chance to win but still competed and became heros. That is what makes the olympics great. It is the perfect reflection of who is on top of the world, who is rising or falling, and of course, it showcases the human spirit to achieve something greater. Just remember that equality is an illusion. If you think that medals don’t matter, think of this Ari. If Jesse Owens just competed and not won gold in Berlin in front of Hitler, how would history have remembered him.

  • John

    Spence, did I mention a word about Chinese not being medal crazed? Of course, they are. I’m well aware of how the Chinese athletes are selected and trained by the government, and regardless how their training system is different from that of US, they still train hard and compete hard and win and lose competitions. So why does the author feel so dreaded about these athletes? I’m sorry that you have mistaken what I was trying to say and no, I’m not insane. And you said, “…And, one day, so will the Chinese. They are welcome here.” I hope you are sincere about it.

  • John

    Spence, did I mention a word about Chinese not being medal crazed? Of course, they are. I’m well aware of how the Chinese athletes are selected and trained by the government, and regardless how their training system is different from that of US, they still train hard and compete hard and win and lose competitions. So why does the author feel so dreaded about these athletes? I’m sorry that you have mistaken what I was trying to say and no, I’m not insane. And you said, “…And, one day, so will the Chinese. They are welcome here.” I hope you are sincere about it.