The word ‘Olympics’ generates an image of something grand, big and very flashy. It symbolizes festivity, it signifies something grandeur. Olympics are perhaps the greatest and the most vital sports extravaganza which happens every four years and has sustained and continued for over a century. The usefulness of Olympics, apart from the showcase of sporting talents, is about different cultures coming together (Claim). It is about the true sporting spirit. The essay thus aims to prove the relevance of Olympics despite all the
claims that the Olympics have failed or they might just crumble under their own weights.
Demonstration of usefulness of Olympics is necessary as it helps us analyze and indeed realize as to how Olympics, over the time, have helped human beings come closer despite various differences, how they have helped in demonstrations and understanding of cultures and how they have imbibed brotherhood and peace (Grounds). Unless too much politics and economics is applied to Olympics, they are very useful and relevant (Qualifier).
Olympics and their cultural importance have been put forward in a very succinct and impressive way by Garcia who writes, ‘As well as a sports event, the Olympics are a cultural phenomenon, with a history spanning more than 100 years and supported by a global network of organizations with an educational and intercultural remit that defines itself as a Movement and aspires to promote Olympism as a ‘philosophy of life’ headed by the International Olympic Committee’ (2008, p.1).
Culture rests at the heart of Olympics and the associated Olympics movement. Right from the starting to the very end, Olympics is about Unity, human values, sportsmanship spirit, culture, ethics, equality and competition. The Olympics have promoted Sports Ethics. ‘Sports Ethics has been one of the most important research topics in sports philosophy in recent decades, including such substantive issues as cheating, sportsmanship, drug taking, violence, fair play, coaching, gender and child protection issues’ (Hsu, 2002).
There are many aspects and many ways in which Olympics have contributed to our world and have made it a better and much more equal place to live in. Olympics fought for Gender equality in earlier days and was used as a platform to push for equal opportunities for Women. It helped the world understand racism better and helped in its thorough criticism potential stage for developing and underdeveloped countries to compete with the best in the world and to showcase their own talents. Thus, Olympics has been an ambassador for a much more equal and understanding world.
Olympics are in true sense an amalgamation of sports and culture. Olympics have been a boon to every aspect of the host as well as participating countries, right from their cultures, economies, tourism, development to the discovery of the hidden potentials. Olympics have been all about fairness with their strong and strict anti doping norms. The implementation of such itself points to the intent exercised through Olympics. ‘The implementation of anti-doping requires strong moral justification, a clear definition of doping and methods of control which are deemed to be reliable, objective and valid’ (Reinold 2012).
The benefits due to Olympics can primarily be divided into two broad categories i.e. Economical benefits and Non-Economical benefits. In-depth study and analyses of both kinds of benefits again establishes the importance and usefulness of Olympics. Both the categories have been defined in depth below:
Economical Benefits: ‘The Olympic games is an event of such magnitude that it can potentially have a significant economic impact on the host city and, for smaller countries, on the host nation as a whole. While the actual event may last for only a few weeks, preparations commence up to a decade beforehand and may entail considerable investment expenditure that can have longer term economic significance’ (Kasimati 2006).
The above statement highlights the economic significance of Olympic games in very subtle and succinct manner. It helps in infrastructure development, increased tourism and greater opportunities (financial and economical) for the local population. The economy benefits investors all round the world. Countries can also benefit from ticket sales and the industries like Hoteling and local tourism prosper at a staggering pace. It even helps in the development of local talent and entrepreneurship, which ultimately has positive impacts on the economy of the country.
Non-Economical Benefits: Though the economical benefits of mega sporting events like Olympics are important; they somehow are not as prominent as the non-economical benefits which result. The term is a broad one and includes benefits like Cultural benefits, Social benefits and Ethical benefits, primarily. The host country gets to showcase its local culture, traditions and values to the World. Olympics since the very starting have helped in mingling and gelling up of people from different cultures and countries. The world is exposed to the local art forms. The principle of holding an arts festival in parallel with the celebration of sporting competitions is embedded in the foundations of the Olympic Movement (Garcia 2008).
The Olympics have many social benefits as it promotes gender equality, equal opportunities for all and it abolishes disparity based on any of the irrelevant factors like race, color, creed. Olympics have also contributed to the development of socially excluded groups in the host community and hence has done great service to the mankind. ‘In Sydney Games (2000) it was an explicit aim to encourage the participation of indigenous peoples in the preparation and staging of the Games through artistic, ceremonial and sporting activities. Two organizations have played a role in the achievement of this aim: NSWALC: New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council; and NIAC: National Indigenous Advisory Committee’ (Minnaert, n.d.). Olympics have often stood for Environmental sustainability and have made the world much more aware about the environmental issues it faces.
Olympics also have considerable Ethical benefits since it promotes fair play, zero tolerance towards doping, and stands for equal opportunities for all. The Non-Economical benefits of Olympics hold much more value when compared to the financial, infrastructural or economical as the values imbibed last forever and help generations.
The benefits mentioned and discussed are associated with every step and event in Olympics. These strong values are associated with each and every process, event that contributes to Olympics as an Extravaganza. Contribution of each and every event to the spirit of Olympism is as listed:
Bidding Process: The bidding process for hosting Olympics is very unique and different in various. It is a two-staged process which considers different parameters of the applicants before choosing a final host. The process isn’t just about choosing a country with maximum budget or the highest bid. Many factors like Cultural Quotient of the city and the country, economic development made in recent years and contribution of the country to sporting culture are few of the factors which hold very important position in the entire bidding process. That is the prime reason why, in some cases, in the past countries with not the highest bids have won . Moreover since hosting an Olympics results in greater and increased economic activities like Tourism, Infrastructure development and greater foreign investments, countries with increased scope and potential are often given preference over the others. Example of China hosting 2008 Olympics reaffirms these principals. More and more developing countries are getting chances to showcase to the world their economic prowess, hospitality and culture which shows how Olympics stands for equality for all. The instance of Rio de Janeiro, a Brazilian city getting to host the next Olympics in 2016 is another masterstroke and another feather in the cap of IOC in holding the values of Olympism and the spirit of Olympics to the highest order possible.
This clearly demonstrates that Olympics isn’t just about the riches and the developed countries, as many of the detractors of the games have pointed out in the past. Olympics is about equal opportunities for all regardless of the continent which a country belongs to or solely its economic status. The Bidding process completely explains why Olympics have been important and how they contribute to Word Culture.
Olympic Villages: Olympics Village is a specially designed and constructed place, where all the athletes participating in Olympics throughout the tenure of the games. Olympics villages hold a very important place in the entire Olympic movement and are responsible for truly upholding the values of Olympism like Brotherhood, Equality and Increased tolerance. Olympians or Athletes from all the countries get to stay as a family for the entire duration of the games.
Every Olympian regardless of his/her country of birth, color, race, creed, gender gets equal Treatment. People from different faiths, countries, and religions get to interact with each other, understand each other and foster long lasting bonds. The participants, after the games get over, have often accepted to have become more polite, tolerant and considerate towards people from other countries and different cultures. The practice again emphasis the ‘Equality’ principle that Olympics has cherished since the very inception. Athletes from the poorest of the countries get to share equal facilities and opportunities with the ones policies against any kind of discrimination based on race, color, country or virtually any factor. The Athletes are treated just like sportspersons and all other factors are put on backburner during the games.
The practice has helped sports fraternity and the world at large in numerous ways. It has taught many important lessons to the humanity. It has taught to the world that money, caste, color, race do not differentiate people but it is the abilities of the people which are most important and should be accredited maximum value and weightage to. The practice, at the very heart of Olympics, shows why Olympics are almost imperative and necessary, for every four years they teach these athletes the lessons which are much more essential than the economic factors often talked about while coming down on Olympics. These practices help our world evolve as a better place.
Opening/ Closing Ceremonies: Opening ceremonies mark the beginning of the mega sports event while the closing ceremonies are the celebrations which depict the end of the games. These ceremonies are often defined as the reflection of the host country to the entire world. These are often the most cherished and celebrated parts of the games. The participants forget all their differences or the other factors that set them apart, come together and enjoy during these ceremonies. Marked with lots of music, colors, crackers
and local culture, it is akin to a festival but most importantly a festival sans boundaries. The boundaries, if any, disappear and it necessarily results in fruitful fraternal exchange. They put the richness and depth of host country’s culture at display. The people of the country connect themselves to the world by the display of their culture through television cameras.
‘Olympic Ceremonies follow on from each other without any resemblance because they are marked by the spirit of the place where they are held. Culture and folklore, Fine Arts and traditional arts join together to shape a spectacle which sets the tone for sixteen days of sporting exploits that follow’ (MacAloon p.11).
The ceremonies serve multiple purposes. They act as a window of the host nation to the entire world and through the display of their culture and their traditions and in many cases some important chapters of their history, they establish themselves in the minds of the world audiences. The practice of ceremonies makes people, participants and the viewers much more informed about the values and culture of the host nation. It makes them understand and appreciate the differences in cultures in a respectable manner. It brings people closer and they tend to understand each other in a better manner. They highlight and display the hospitability and warmth of the locals The Olympians enjoy and cherish these memories and everlasting bonds are often established between players and athletes, officials and visiting delegates which are quite visible in the ‘Thank You’ placards displayed by players and the usually tearful good byes. The ceremonies bring out many emotions and connect people across the world, not the basis of any commonalities, but on the basis of differences between them; something again very unique to Olympism. These things are imperative and vital for human co-existence despite the differences that might exist based on many many diverse and disparate factors.
This is something for which Olympics are always justified and indeed, very important. Play Period: It refers to the days on which actual competitions or sporting events are held. These days also immensely justify the usefulness of Olympics. New Records are made and human potentials are challenged everyday. It has indeed helped us improve immensely and pushed sportsperson towards betterment of their own records. Olympics help produce sense of competition coupled with sportsmanship spirit, which is very essential to ensure fair games. Olympics imbibe patriotism and evoke emotions. Throughout this period, new dimensions of human capability are explored and touched upon. The usefulness of Olympics hence is even more significant as it has let sportspersons in particular and human beings in general, realize their true worth and potentials.
Conclusion: The complete analyses quite clearly establishes that importance and usefulness of Olympics is not at all questionable. There have been many vocal and apparent critics of Olympics who have been critical about the money involved in the games and the so called ‘reckless’ spending, but they apparently fail to see the better and sunnier side of the games. They fail to understand that culture and values that Olympics stand for cannot be weighed as profits and losses. What Olympics has given to humanity, both in terms of Economic and Non-Economic benefits is for all to see. We have a much more tolerance towards different cultures, better and coherent Globalization, fairer and safer games and better sportspersons. All these factors, thought not totally but in part have been affected by Olympism and the indomitable Olympics Spirit.
Olympics, though a sporting event, has affected our world at large. It has had numerous benefits and continues to benefit the sporting world as well as others. Though there has been increased criticism for Olympics off late, still it cannot rob Olympics of its usefulness and benefits. Nothing is perfect, same is the case with Olympics. But the benefits imbibed should be acknowledged and appreciated.
Works Cited
Garcia, Beatriz (2008), " The role Arts and Culture in the Olympic Games From Olympic Arts Competitions to Cultural Olympiads", pp. 1-13, University of Liverpool, Retrieved on 27 November 2012, _2008.pdf
Hsu, Li-Hong (Leo), (2002), " Ethics and Sports Rules", The University of Leeds, School of Philosophy, Retrieved on 27 November 2012,
Reinold, Marcel, (2012), " Arguing against doping: A discourse analytical study on Olympic anti-doping between the 1960s and the late 1980s", University of Munster (Germany), Retrieved on 27 November 2012, BE/ReinoldFinalReportIOC2011.pdf_attachment_.pdf
Kasimati, Evangelia, (2006), " MACROECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL ANALYSIS OF MEGA- EVENTS: EVIDENCE FROM GREECE", University of Bath , Retrieved on 27 November 2012, JF/KASIMATI.pdf
Minnaert, Lynn, (n.d.), " The non-infrastructural impacts of the Olympic Games on socially excluded groups in the host community: A comparative scoping study from Atlanta 1996 to Beijing 2008", University of Westminster , Retrieved on 27 November 2012, _The_non-infrastructural_impacts_of_the_OG_-_MINNAERT_2C_L.pdf
MacAloon, John, (1995), "Olympic Ceremonies: Historical Continuity and Cultural Exchange ", International Smposium on Olympic Ceremonies, Retrieved on 27 November 2012, TX/IOC_Symposium_1995.pdf
