With the Paris Olympics well underway, the nations of the world can once again witness its greatest athletes compete for gold medals and global recognition. The first Olympic games in modern times were held in 1896 in Athens, Greece. Apart from breaks due to two world wars, the summer games have been held every four years since. This year, in the 30th installment of the Olympic summer games, over 10,000 athletes competed in almost 330 events. That’s a far cry from 128 years ago, when only 241 athletes participated in a series of games that cost a total of $10 million in today’s money.
The calculus behind hosting the Olympics has changed dramatically since 1896. While the games are becoming increasingly expensive to host, they also have an ability to draw a global audience and boost the host nation’s economy. This tradeoff has placed the modern games at a crossroads between matters of sporting excellence, economics and diplomacy. Hosting the Olympics poses a multi-billion dollar financial risk, and fewer and fewer countries have elected to take that risk in recent years. Even for cities that decide to enter the running, their inhabitants are increasingly uninterested or even opposed to the idea. Numerous cities dropped out of the running to host the games after activists protested, leaving Paris and Los Angeles as the only major contenders. Ultimately, Paris was selected to host in 2024 and Los Angeles in 2028.
Besides rising costs, political turmoil in recent Olympic host countries has also contributed to the games losing their luster in the eyes of the public. The 2014 Winter Games saw host city Sochi, Russia construct a $8.7 billion light rail line to facilitate transportation during and after the games, until Russian oligarchs shed their investments in the region and left their crumbling remains to the Russian taxpayer. The 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro occurred amid massive economic turmoil in Brazil. To add insult to injury, a corruption scandal involving the former president of the Brazilian Olympic Committee called into question the legitimacy of how the International Olympic Committee selects the hosts for its games in the first place.
The Olympic games have changed. What was once simply a gauntlet of sporting excellence has evolved into a multi-billion dollar undertaking, where politicians often use the games to distract the public from corruption and scandal at home. Ripped straight out of antiquity, the bread and circuses model of the Olympics — referring to when food and games were used by the Romans to appease the masses — cannot be hijacked by politicians hoping to use the games to serve political ends. While little can be done to influence how politicians will try to use the games to their advantage, the IOC can minimize the threat of another Sochi or Rio by refining eligibility criteria to ensure future host countries have the infrastructure and political climate necessary to host a successful games.
Paris 2024 revealed that French President Emmanuel Macron hadn’t learned from prior Olympics. Macron is using the games as a political opening to postpone making changes to the government following legislative elections that would install a new left-wing coalition. The new government won’t be allowed to form until after the games, with Macron fearing actions to change his government would prompt “disorder.” But, Macron has seen quite a bit of “disorder” during his seven years as president, and this recent decision has prompted unions to organize a new wave of protests. His announcement comes after the far-right National Rally made huge gains in the June parliamentary elections, trouncing Macron’s centrist Renaissance Party. The surging of the far right prompted another wave of protests across the country.
Macron’s hope that the Olympics would overshadow his government’s failures was misguided. By refusing to allow the installation of a new government until after the games, instead installing a caretaker government, he delayed the new left-wing coalition’s efforts to form a government that can effectively address France’s many problems. Among them, a gang-fueled drug crisis, economic uncertainty and widespread police violence — a lineup that sounds very familiar here at home. Prior Olympics have shown that Macron’s maneuvers are bound to result in a political reckoning for himself and his party. Rather than allowing a new government to form, his feeble attempt to hold onto power will almost certainly backfire.
The United States is set to host the games in 2028 in Los Angeles, and U.S. politicians must learn from prior games and not try to use the games as an opportunity to purify themselves from political turmoil. The problems facing our nation — which are just as numerous as and alarmingly similar to those of France — should not be put on hold for anything. At the very least, Los Angeles held a very successful Olympics in 1984 and is likely to do so again given the abundance of existing sporting venues, transportation and housing. Construction projects are often the reason recent Olympics have gone way over budget, and existing infrastructure should ensure preparations for the L.A. games remain on schedule and on budget.
Beyond 2028, the IOC must reevaluate how it determines eligibility for the Olympics to ensure the controversy-ridden Olympics of the 2010s remain a distant memory. While it cannot control how politicians manipulate the political opening of the games, it can control the location and conditions in which it occurs. The Olympics have a rich history of sporting excellence, spurred on by phenomenal athletes that redefine the boundaries of their respective sports. It’s time for the Olympics to return to its roots and discard the controversy.
Maximilian Schenke is an Opinion Columnist who writes about whatever is on his mind, but typically focuses on politics. He loves receiving criticism or otherwise at maxsch@umich.edu.
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