the 2016 Olympics

[pbrower2a]

These Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro have already been  snake-bit (well, technically mosquito-bit with the Zika virus, which uses mosquitoes as the vector). 

The Russian track and field team has been banned due to pervasive doping, and in view of allegations of athlete doping elsewhere, the entire Russian contingent could be banned.

From the New York Times:

Quote:Antidoping officials from at least 10 nations and 20 athlete groups are preparing the extraordinary step of requesting that the entire Russian delegation be barred from the Summer Olympics over allegations of a state-sponsored doping program, according to email correspondence obtained by The New York Times.

The antidoping officials and athletes were expected to pressure Olympic leaders on the matter as soon as Monday — less than three weeks before the opening ceremony in Rio. They were waiting for the results of an investigation into claims published in The Times of a state-sponsored doping program conducted by Russian officials at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

Grigory Rodchenkov, Russia’s former antidoping lab director, told The Times in May that he followed government orders to cover up the widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs by dozens of Russian Olympians at the Sochi Games. At least 15 of them won medals, he said.

Russian officials have dismissed allegations of a state-run doping program as a Western conspiracy intended to smear Russia. The country’s track and field team has already been barred from the Rio Games for doping violations; calls for sanctions against Russian athletes in every sport would be unprecedented and would likely escalate the geopolitical debate.

At least 10 national antidoping organizations — including those in the United States, Germany, Spain, Japan, Switzerland and Canada — and more than 20 athlete groups representing Olympians from around the world have banded together as they anticipate validation of Dr. Rodchenkov’s claims.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/17/sports....html?_r=0

[Eric the Green]

The most noteworthy thing about the Olympics is that Brazil has polluted the harbor where the water sports will take place and refuses to clean it up. They refuse to shut down their off-shore oil industry (as does the USA), contributing to global warming and thus not to global peace and sustainability.

[pbrower2a]

(07-18-2016, 03:57 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: The most noteworthy thing about the Olympics is that Brazil has polluted the harbor where the water sports will take place and refuses to clean it up. They refuse to shut down their off-shore oil industry (as does the USA), contributing to global warming and thus not to global peace and sustainability.

The Olympic Committee could have picked Chicago, a city which already has excellent sports venues -- arguably the best sports venues in a city that hasn't had the Olympic games in a century. Water sports? Chicago has one of the greatest lakes.

Maybe it didn't want a President running for a Third Term using the Olympics as a scene for establishing dictatorial power.

[pbrower2a]

Now that they have ended:

!. Rio de Janeiro can certainly throw a party, can it not? Chicago would not have been as fun.

2. The US got an ungodly number of medals, due in no small part to the near-absence of the tainted Russian Olympic team. Using the Olympics for propaganda purposes is somewhat inevitable, but doping athletes to rack up the medals is a horrible way to do it. "Cheat and don't play" is a reasonable policy for the protection of athletes.

3. Generation X has practically aged out of Olympic competition now.