Letters: Paris games are too big and should go back to basics
A Connexion reader says that the modern Olympics are a bloated affair with too many events
Reader says innocent amateur excellence has been overtaken by TV-conscious novelty events
Kavi designs/Shutterstock
To the Editor,
Nick Inman takes a virtue-signalling view in his Comment article on the eco-damage to be caused by an estimated 15 million Olympic visitors to France, without mentioning the fact that France for years already attracts roughly 100 million tourists annually.
More to the point is the potential disaster of accepting Paris as host, and of the insane rush to bigger is better.
The modern Games started in 1896 in celebration of the unifying nature of collective amateur sport, to showcase track and field events all nations could aspire to, with international rules and measurable results.
The classic events that ordinary people admired the world over were the 100, 200, 400 'yards, the 'mile', the marathon, jumping further and higher, throwing the discus, shot, hammer, javelin.
As general enthusiasm (and sponsoring) drove demand, more specialised events were added like rowing, showjumping, cycling, badminton, water polo, golf.
Read more: 6 non-sporty things to look out for at the Paris Olympics
Then came the large-scale illegal use of performance drugs in some countries for sport-as-politics, which dented the Games’ appeal for many.
The number of events practically tripled: diving and gymnastics, synchronised swimming, beach volleyball. And a major addition – events for handicapped people with some truly moving results driven at least as much by the human spirit as by technology.
What are we now left with? Innocent amateur excellence has been overtaken by TV-conscious novelty items: Strictly Come Skateboarding, Total Handball, Surfing’s Up!, Underwater Long-jump, Pimp my Pétanque (OK, I made those two up).
Time to delete and restart. Let the developing nations choose some new events, and cut the whole show back by about 50%, because it is losing its way and also because there will be no future volunteers to host it.
And it will produce a diminished environmental impact, two for the price of one.
Geoff Staines, by email
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