My moral problem with the Olympics

[ToeInTheWater]

I agree the reasons you express are good ones to dislike the Olympics. I’d add that it is also a graft scheme. It is wasteful since the venues will mostly fall into disuse after the two weeks of competition. The athletes are not amateurs in any sense of the word. And many of the athletes train in the US so the idea they represent a country is a bit skewed.

Well, many soccer players actually play for pro teams in foreign countries but that doesn’t mean the idea that players represent a country in the World Cup is a “bit skewed”. Same for golfers who train and play mostly in the US but represent their home country in the Davis Cup.

In any case since you then go on to decry nationalism you seem to think the idea athletes represent a country isn’t a good idea anyway.

I think it is worse. There is a picture of the engaged Bolt apparently in bed with a girl.

I saw that picture too, and it seems that unfortunately, Usain Bolt himself may not be the best example of an athlete who behaves decorously. He is certainly far from the only athlete who publicly proclaims devotion to a religious faith, but doesn’t live up to all of the ideals of his faith.

However, that still doesn’t mean the point porthos11 made is invalid when it comes to not painting all athletes with the same broad brush.

Also, I’d point out that IMHO what Lochte did is worse than just carousing around the way Bolt may have. Lochte firstly caused property damage when he “vandalized” the bathroom, then he lied about being a crime victim, now maybe he just did that where the media were concerned, but if he actually made a false crime report, that is also a crime.

He also played into stereotypes about what a dangerous scary place Rio supposedly is, and I also think it’s a commentary on the prejudices we hold in the US towards “Third World” countries, since most of the initial media reports assumed his story was 100% true.

 

[porthos11]

I could be wrong but…I just saw a video of Bolt and a girl grinding at a nightclub in Rio on twitter. It looked so sexual, I had to stop watching. Not that devout lol

Heh. That does come as a surprise AND a disappointment.

 

[exnihilo]

I think that is why the olympics are not as popular as they once were, opening it to professionals ruined the whole thing. I just heard on the news other night, they are actually cancelling some events due to such poor ticket sales, and the few times I have watched certain events, there were many empty seats, even front row seats.

Id love to understand why they thought it was such a great idea to let professionals take part, when the whole idea behind the olympics was that all the people were amateurs!

Are there any amateurs at all in the Olympics? Michael Phelps just bought a multi million dollar house. So far as I know all he does is swim. But he has lots of endorsements. For those not getting paid handsomely through endorsements a lot of national Olympic programs provide very expensive training and at least some athletes only job is to train. I’m more impressed by folks who live a normal life and trained on the side. At local running races, bike races or triathlons you’ll find those folks.

Also, I’d point out that IMHO what Lochte did is worse than just carousing around the way Bolt may have. Lochte firstly caused property damage when he “vandalized” the bathroom, then he lied about being a crime victim, now maybe he just did that where the media were concerned, but if he actually made a false crime report, that is also a crime.

He also played into stereotypes about what a dangerous scary place Rio supposedly is, and I also think it’s a commentary on the prejudices we hold in the US towards “Third World” countries, since most of the initial media reports assumed his story was 100% true.

The Lochte situation is odd. From what I read I’m not sure his account was much of a stretch. I read a report that explains this. There is no good reason to believe Brazilian ‘officials’. Officials anywhere aren’t particularly trustworthy and in Brazil even more so. I’ve read reports saying Lochte made a false crime report but to whom? A TV interviewer? So far as I know he didn’t go to the station and report a crime. He certainly didn’t immediately after the event. And Brazil is a very dangerous place whatever happened with Lochte.

 

[Lea101]

I still enjoyed the Olympics. I may be biased bc my country won our first gold medal, haha, but still!

I like watching the gymnastics events. and the swimming

 

[GEddie]

If someone spends his life training over quadrennia, and finances this life through sponsorships, then they are amateur only in name, and there is no reason not to admit others who more blatantly get paid to compete.

ICXC NIKA

 

[ToeInTheWater]

If someone spends his life training over quadrennia, and finances this life through sponsorships, then they are amateur only in name, and there is no reason not to admit others who more blatantly get paid to compete.

ICXC NIKA

I think the amateur ship sailed long ago. I recall the first “Dream Team” of pro basketball players competing in the 1990s, this was the days of Jordan, Johnson, etc. And one of the justifications was that (this was way back when the Soviet Union was still a thing), that Eastern Bloc athletes had an unfair advantage because their governments essentially acted as sponsors for them.

Also, AFAIK in the early days of the Olympics, before sponsors and endorsements were as big a money maker as they are today, many of the “amateurs” were actually independently wealthy and hence could afford to dabble in amateur sports.

Anyway; I don’t really expect the Olympics to be any more or less virtuous than pro or quasi-pro sports in general, which many would argue is a waste of time and resources that could be better spent on some other more practical pursuit. But the same could be said of art, music, or even handsomely decorated churches – “this money should be better spent on caring for the poor”!

I’ve even seen posters ask if it is somehow sinful, or a near occasion of sin, to participate in any kind of sport as a career, because of temptations not only to share a particular lifestyle of sleeping around and getting drunk as mentioned here, but to use PEDs or use other ruthless means to win.

However I’ve never come across any coherent argument that pro sports is inherently immoral.

 

[Theo520]

To the OP, these athletes are highly disciplined individuals and their morals are well formed, good or bad. They’ve also spent a great deal of time on the road exposed to temptations post meet. The Olympics won’t be causal in their behavior.

Bolt is not only Catholic, he is also devout, and has taken the Olympics as an opportunity to express his faith.

Bolt slept with at least one local after his partying (she took photos), he’s not an ideal faith role model.

 

[GEddie]

Sadly, in the current world meta-society, it is almost impossible to separate the culture of the body (which underlies high-end athletics) from sexual excess.

Which does not make sports culture per se wrong. Saint Paul used a bunch of athletic metaphors in his teaching, which he would not have done if competitive physical culture (which in his time, most likely stemmed from the classical Olympics) were morally problematic in itself.

ICXC NIKA