The US dominates the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in a place that should have never hosted
Submitted by Carson Now Reader on Tue, 08/23/2016 - 12:11pm
Team USA did what they do best in the Olympics....dominate in almost every facet of the games. Swimming, gymnastics, track, field, basketball, and pretty much anything else.
The United States had one of the greatest Olympic Games ever in decades. Dominating not only the overall medal count, but in every color as well.
NBC, as usual, kept the great stuff on camera and the bad stuff off. That's their job, and they do it very well.
Yet, the games were in a city that should have never hosted the games to begin with, and I may not list the reason you will think is obvious.
Not just Rio De Janeiro but the entire country of Brazil was on the verge of political and financial ruin even before the games were selected to be there. It is one of the poorest countries and cities on the planet.
Yet, somehow, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) chose them to host an event that everyone knows takes the monetary total into the billions nowadays to put on.
The Brazilian Government spent every last dollar they had (which wasn't much to begin with) on these games and also asked for hundreds of millions of dollars in bailout money to help bridge the huge gap that was left to try and complete everything needed to host.
I get it, Brazil wanted to host in hopes of showcasing their country to the world it a greater light than it has been shown in, I got it. But to bankrupt a country even more than it was all on the precipice of false hope?
Surely Brazilian officials have some sort of common sense instilled in them to know that this just made their already extremely fragile country even worse.
The money that was spent on constructing venues that will with absolute certainty rot and waste away as they all do from past games no matter what promises are made ahead of time, could have gone towards the infrastructure of Rio, the country, and most of all...its people.
We all know of the severe problems they have with a lot of things such as sky high poverty, raw sewage out in the open, bacterial issues, education almost non-existent, high crime rate for most of the population.
It's almost like the country wanted a two week high to take their minds off of the harsh reality they face but it's sad because the truth got even more brutal for them.
Once the games are gone, they're gone...and all the glitz and glamour that go with them. All of the venues (as previously stated) become a thing of the past, money wasted in the long run. Just ask the residents of Boston. Boston originally was selected by the USOC to be the US representative in the 2024 summer games. The Bostonians protested this saying that the city had far more important things to focus on and eventually Boston pulled out of consideration.
Some might be screaming: "What about the economic boom?!" Well, if there even was one in the case of Rio, it is very short lived. That goes for every host nation as well. Two weeks of an extravaganza doesn't carry far into the future.
I love the Olympic Games because for the most part, for two weeks, the world is brought together and most differences are put aside in the name of world class competition. I look forward to them every time they come.
But, as quickly as they come....they go. That's a fact. The IOC needs to do better in selecting host cities. They need to better their standards so that the cities they do choose can financially do it and not be in ruins after. That's what I would like to see.
The IOC should know better than to deem a "third world" nation capable of taking on an enormous event. I wish Rio and Brazil the best because the people of Rio and Brazil lost a lot with these games.
