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We are nearing the end of the games of the 31st Olympiad, and inevitably there will be the bevy of articles (such as this one) that will analyse how history will view them.
There will be comparisons of the Rio Games as an international sporting competition, then, of course, against other Olympics.
I wrote an article a few months ago listing what I believed to be the top five Summer games hosted. No surprises that four of my five were games held recently (Barcelona, Sydney, Beijing and London) in the modern era.
There’s an expectation that, with loads of previous examples to research against, Games organisers should now be able to deliver a well-organised spectacle.
But did Rio? Well, there are some on this website that insisted that the Rio games would be a spectacular… a spectacular failure.
I have entirely disagreed with that assessment, and continue to do so.
First world subjectivity has clouded that argument, and now a raft of writers are looking to pick apart any fault and blow it well out of proportion, while wilfully disregarding the faults of the so-called ‘best games ever’. For some, Rio can only be a failure, so they look for reasons to make that case.
Let’s have a look at some of the key criticisms being levelled at Rio.
1. The money spent on the Games should have been spent on addressing rife inequality and social problems in Rio.
I 100 per cent agree. The money indeed should have been spent on social problems in Rio. The favelas are expanding. Crime is escalating. The economy has all but collapsed.
But, isn’t this an argument that has been levelled at all cities hosting the Olympics? Why it is that Rio gets singled out for enhanced scrutiny here? What short memories we Australians must have.
I distinctly remember when Sydney hosted the Olympics, that the government rounded up the homeless and dispatched them out of sight. Yet, I don’t hear people recalling this when they volley accusations against the Rio city government for ignoring the plights of the poor.
What about the billions that went into funding Olympic-necessary infrastructure at the expense of schools, hospitals and better transport?
Remember this fact: the Olympics delivered a train line from Lidcombe to Homebush (essentially four kilometres of rail), and a pathetic excuse of a line from central to Bondi junction. Not Bondi or the rest of the Eastern suburbs, but Bondi junction.
Essentially, the Olympics provided two half attempts at train improvements and that’s it. There’s been no plan to actually extend the rail link in the Eastern suburbs. The buses still remain dreadful, the trains still cry for improvements and the freeways are the worst they’ve ever been.
Similar questions were raised of London as well. Why spend billions on the Olympics when they were struggling to dig themselves out of a huge recession?
Better still, was the diversion of lottery funds to sports programs, instead of social programs, worth it? I don’t have an answer for these questions, but I sure as hell know that no one is bothering to recall these questions of Sydney and London when they criticise Rio.
The less said about Beijing the better. Billions of dollars spent in a country where a quarter of a billion people don’t eat three meals a day.
The diversion of funds to the Olympics instead of social programs is one that is relevant to all games, in all countries. It is wrong to single out Rio.
2. Poor facilities
The pool is green. My apartment doesn’t have a shower curtain. The hot water is inconsistent. I can’t put toilet paper in.
Spare me. Have a little bit of perspective here.
Let’s put the pool issue to one side for now (I’ll come back to it later, I promise). Regarding the conditions of the athletes’ village, Rio is still a developing country. How about the athletes look out the window and have a peek at what several million Rio citizens have to put up with every night.
No toilet. No hot water. Yes, they have shower curtains, but they call them ‘roofs’ or ‘quilts’. We’ve all backpacked, we’ve all camped, we’ve all lived in worse. I’m sure they can adjust. I’ve seen the AIS living quarters: believe me, Rio conditions are only marginally poorer.
I freely concede that the security of the athletes is paramount, and yes, Rio have failed big time there. That will be a justified cross in the Games report card. But not being able to put toilet paper in the toilet. Good grief.
Now, onto pool-gate.
This has to be the biggest storm in a tea cup for some time. Again, this incident is being taken to utterly petty extremes by certain quarters to prove that Rio never deserved the games. It’s shameful to be honest. Innocent mistakes are being turned into examples of gross incompetence.
These people willingly ignore that Sydney had it’s fair share of cock ups as well. As did Atlanta and London. In Sydney, they set the vault height 4cm too low, so when gymnasts launched themselves full tilt into it, imagine their surprise when their finely-tuned routines ended up in catastrophic disasters.
People were injured! Did I see articles in the paper commenting that these were the most incompetent games organised? No.
In Atlanta, the timing and scoring systems in several sports was so slow it was embarrassing. Gymnasts, divers and swimmers were having to wait so long for results that “Info 96” (as the IBM program was called) was nicknamed Info 97. Again, no articles picking on the organisers.
In London, imagine the surprise of North Korean women’s football team when they saw their names next to the South Korean flag. What a blunder. Organisational incompetence though? No. Just a harmless mistake.
Exactly what the pool was. It was still safe to swim in. And that wasn’t the decision of Rio organisers. That was the decision of FINA.
There have been reports of barely having any food or drink to purchase at the Olympic park. This is disappointing no doubt, yet this isn’t a problem exclusively isolated to Rio, so I’m baffled as to why people are making such a big deal out of it.
Atlanta food choices were abysmal. Burgers and coke. If you didn’t like that, you could get burgers and coke. Beijing had problems with food availability. Sydney delivered decent food, but I vividly remember McDonalds being the most prominent option.
How has Rio fared in the end? Events took place on time. World records set. Legends made and created. The facilities were fine.
3. Rio scored lower than the other cities in the bid evaluation process, so how did they get the Games?
This one is my absolute favourite, because those who use it as evidence are so ridiculously uninformed.
Yes, it is true that Rio scored lower than Madrid, Tokyo, Chicago and also Doha. So what?
In the bidding process for the 2000 Olympics, Beijing scored higher than Sydney. In 2008, Osaka, Paris and Toronto all scored higher than Beijing. Paris and Madrid were better than London in 2012.
Where are the articles about the unjust selection process? Sydney should never have hosted the Games. Beijing should be sending reparations to Paris and Toronto!
Bottom line: Evaluation scores mean very little. Sydney, Beijing and London delivered the finest Olympic Games we’ve ever seen. When it came to the voting process, the winning cities put together the most compelling bid and were duly rewarded. No one – repeat, no one – would say that the IOC made the wrong choice on those games.
Conclusion:
These Games won’t be talked about in the same breath as other great games, but the facts are, Rio has delivered a good and successful games.
They delivered a great opening ceremony, with proof that you can host a cracking night without needing to have a James Cameron budget.
There has been no delayed events because of organisational errors, but rather the weather. Rio organisers can’t be blamed for the weather!
World records are being set. Medals are being awarded. I’ve every confidence that Rio will dish out a cracking closing ceremony.
Yes, factors that weigh against these games are athlete’s security, because it’s frankly unacceptable to have athletes being mugged at gunpoint.
But then, it’s also unacceptable to have a bomb blast in the Olympic precinct, or a terrorist hostage situation in the Olympic village. It’s also unacceptable for journalists and athletes to not have internet freedom in Beijing.
Rio deserved the Olympics. They delivered a good games. It was not the disappointment that the failure zealots were begging for.
Well done Rio. I’d personally say it was somewhere between Atlanta and Seoul in terms of organisation and memorability.
What do you think Roarers?