Yayyyy the Olympics are coming

Over the last few months it seems as though there has been more angst than appreciation for the upcoming 2010 Olympics that will be gracing our beautiful city.  Much of which is probably deserved!  I am writing this because I would like to compare this Olympics to the Salt Lake City Olympics which I was lucky enough to be a part of.  It is not a positional piece by any means, but a comparison with a few little rant style points for your reading enjoyment.

At this time of year in 2001, Salt Lake City was buzzing!  People were ramping up for a great event that was going to highlight thousands of athletes and countries alike.  For the most part, everyone in the city seemed excited for the games.  At the time, I was a young, handsome strength and conditioning coach with the University of Utah where the opening and closing ceremonies were to be held.   As strength coaches we were excited that elite athletes from all over the world were going to come and use our facilities for their training.  Brand new dorms were being built for the Olympic village that would replace the old prison style, one toilet per 6 people, 70 square foot sauna in the summer and meat locker in the winter.  The brand new 48, 000 seat stadium that was built for football was going to be rocked by Gene Simmons and KISS for the closing ceremonies (OK, maybe not a good thing because KISS sucks).  Most of the facilities were already in place so construction was not nearly as big of an issue as it is here (to be honest.  I think we went overboard on this; Vancouver is better set up than Salt Lake).   The beauty of the Salt Lake games was most events were spread out over the city within a 1 hour drive of each other.  There was little or no congestion (mainly because they didn't have to deal with only 2 or 3 bridges connecting the cities) to get to venues or events. 

I am going to try not to sound as though I lack compassion here when I deal with the negatives in the following paragraph.  The Salt Lake Games loomed over one of the most catastrophic and horrific terrorist attacks the country had ever seen.  Just 4 months prior to the games, the 911 terrorist attacks occurred in New York sparking the largest Olympic budgets to date including the summer games.    I believe Salt Lake budgeted 300 million for security which was almost triple that of Atlanta's summer games.   To credit the Americans, we should also consider that they were probably more accepting of the games due to the tragedy that had occurred and may have thought of the games as a way to help reunite the country.   

I don't want to blame 911 for the increased budget.  We also have to consider the ego of the organizers to outdo the previous games comes into play as well.   It is not my intention to knock the government, VANOC and other organizers of the games because I don't care about them.  For the most part, it seems as though they care more about furthering their own careers and saying they were part of the Olympics than what the TRUE spirit of the games should be.    Many of these athletes have dedicated their lives to performing for their countries and have made huge sacrifices to be there and I hope that people will respect that.   As a hateful person, I am opening my heart to hate those that are in this to make a buck, but for the love of all that is holy, please don't take your frustrations out on these athletes (especially not the Canadian ones). 

My final thoughts:

I am not the biggest Olympic supporter by any means.  I am a supporter of sport and what it can do for an individual, a city and a country.  If history teaches us anything about the Olympics, it is that the ego of the following host country will come into play and try to outdo the previous games.  I think I have an idea on how we can still outdo the previous games in the future (some people are going to get mad here).  In Salt Lake City, the average cost per athlete was a staggering $791,667 per athlete.   2409 (I believe) athletes competed in the games or almost 2 billion dollars worth.  We can cut that in half almost if we change the games so those that want to just be participants are no longer included?   The games do not necessarily highlight the greatest athletes in the world, in many sports only the top 1 or 2 performers from a given country are allowed to compete (I know we all love hearing about the Jamaican Bobsled team).  So if Canada had the top 6 performers in the world in a given sport, we would not be able to have them all compete in the games.  This hardly seems fair if you are a legitimate contender in a given sport and you are sidelined so another athlete from another country can get to say they went to the Olympics.  This may seem harsh, but the reality is-this is not a high school all-star team!  These are supposed to be the greatest athletes in the world.  Why should we pay for an athlete that has not been successful in their sport on the world stage, but has earned a spot on the Olympic team because we are allowed one or two spots because we are a host nation?   How about we let the up and coming nations compete in the world cups and world championships and make the Olympics about the best athletes in the world. 

I have been inspired to write this every time I see Maelle Ricker (one of the top snowboarders in the world) come in from Squamish to North Vancouver every day to train with us at Level 10 Fitness.  She has made sacrifices to be where she is, yet she receives the same funding as athletes in her sport and other potential winter Olympians that are nowhere near her calibre.  Is this fair?  I see the problems with this-If only the top performers are allowed to compete, countries that support their athletes will pour more funding into them raising them above the rest.   But wait, we already do that.  Do you think our ski jumpers get as much funding as our hockey players, or our cross country skiers get the same funding as our snowboarders?  All countries will pour the majority of their money into their most successful teams and athletes to ensure that they stay successful.  Having said that, individual sports should consider doing the same.  If you are the best in your organization funding should be trickled from the top down so that you can continue to compete at the highest level. 

I apologize if I have stepped on any toes here.  This does not mean I am not a supporter of these athletes or these games.  I just feel we could do so much better if we direct funding to the right people instead of following a bureaucratic process that does not help further our athletic performance. 

If you are a hater of the games, please don't take it out on the athletes (whether they are the best or not).  They are dedicating more than many of us can ever fathom for their countries.  Next time you are in the gym and you see one of our Olympian hopefuls, give them a pat on the back! They are sweating for all of us!!!  Go Canada Go!!!  Regardless of what I have said, I still support any athlete that is trying to achieve their goal of getting to the Olympics; I would just like to shift that goal from being a participant to a winner.

In the near future, we will be developing a sponsorship page on our website highlighting some of our athletes and their quest for gold.  If you or anyone you know is interested in sponsoring one of our athletes please don't hesitate to contact me (this goes the same if you would like to send me some hate mail).

Yours in Strength,

Joe