In exactly one year from
today the Tokyo 2020 summer Olympic games will commence. There will be a few
events that will start before the opening ceremony on July 24, 2020. The
Olympic medals that will be awarded in 2020 were revealed today at the capitol
of Japan. The medals are unique in how the precious medals were obtained. There
will be a decent amount of recycled material used in the medals and the gold,
silver, and bronze obtained from public donations from mobile phones were
utilized. Not to be confused, the public donation of recycled mobile phones
does not account for all of the precious medals used. But it is a sign on how
Japan wants to design the Olympic games to the world.
The international
sporting event is a time when the host city and most of the time the nation can
demonstrate to the world who they are and what they represent. That is no
secret, but it works to a certain extent. Tokyo is planning on having robots in
the image of the Tokyo 2020 mascot at events greeting people. This creative
sport political image shaping is a reason behind host cities and nations seek
the opportunity to host the Olympic games. The Olympic games are awarded to a
host city, but the nation also provides a lot of input and influence over the campaign.
This is an example of
sports being about nationalism and political. At its core value the Olympic
games are about competition and human pursuit of excellence, but the human
factor is a reason why the topics of nationalism and politics are inescapable. The
Olympics will focus on the winners that stand on the podium, but one should
keep in mind that the winner’s nations national anthem will be played as they
step up to receive their medals. This is the reason why there is an anti-Olympic
movement. Politics are decisive and perspective based. Nationalism is not necessarily
a negative ingredient as it does make sporting events much more fun especially if
one knows the history of the nations and can conjure up historical events to
create a mental rivalry. The more basic one is that of supporting one’s nation
and excited at the sight of winning and be associated with that nation.
However, the reason
politics cannot be ignored and tends to be the more divisive measure is due to
a few reasons. The main reason is money. The Olympics are a fun and exciting
sporting event that momentarily unites people from all over the world in one
place to share common values and interest. Yet, hosting the games is a very
expensive burden that tends to fall onto the locals. Whatever the billions of
dollars that one will read or watch on television during the 2020 Tokyo Summer
Olympic Games, beware that 70% of cost will be covered or was paid for by the
taxpayer. Which is how this great sporting event gets political and unavoidable.
When money is being spent that belongs to the taxpayer two essential questions should
be prompted. Do the games bring economic growth to the host city? What happens
after the games are over? To keep it brief, no and the city residents are left
with a large portion of the bill.
The Olympics are fun and
entertaining to watch. I will be watching the games and keeping track on all the
athletic events as possible. One should beware that there will be protesting
and instead of moaning and complaining that sports and politics do not mix or
that this is not the right place or time understand that sports as never stood alone
in a vacuum from the rest of society and that is a reason why sports are fundamental
to human society.
No comments:
Post a Comment