-—_ War of the Words

The Olympics
are necessary

> Olympic games encourage unity

and multiculturalism

Jerrison Oracion
Senior Columnist

 

he 2018 Pyeongchang Winter
Olympic Games are happening now,
and Canada has won a lot of medals
earlier than expected. The Olympic
games are something that happens
every four years, where the entire world
is watching and cheering on their team
to get medals for their countries. The
Olympics show that when everyone
comes and plays together, the world
can be united by the power of sport.
The Olympics have a lot of
sports to showcase, providing a lot
of choices on which events you can
watch. When watching them, you
might become interested in a sport
or learn about a sport that you did
not know about. You even could be
inspired to compete in that sport and
participate in a future Olympic Games.
There are many benefits to having
an Olympics. The Olympic games unite
people and promote multiculturalism.
In the host city of an Olympic Games,
everyone shows their colours, supports
their country’s team, and go to events
and activities together. It boosts
tourism in whatever city it’s being
hosted in, and essentially puts it on
the map. Also, it encourages people
to volunteer in the games to get more
involved in the world community and
make a difference. Since the entire
world is watching the games, there are

a lot of moments that people will talk
about for a long time, and the Olympics
also teaches viewers things about sports
they may not have known before.

An example of this in the Winter
Games this year are the snowboard
commentators, including recent
Canadian bronze medalist snowboarder
Mark McMorris’s brother, Craig
McMorris, using snowboarding slang
to describe what was happening, which
helped people learn snowboarding
terms. An example of a moment
that people will talk about is the
North Korean Cheer Team that is
seen in various venues. While some
say their cheers might contain
propaganda, the combination with
pop music makes them interesting.

The Olympics are necessary
because it encourages everyone to
do sports and unites countries and
people. Everyone talks about the
Olympics when they are on, which
brings people together and helps to
diffuse world conflicts. The Winter
Games seem to have calmed the
situation with North Korea somewhat
because the South Korean athletes are
getting along with the North Korean
athletes, Kim Jong-Un’s sister went
to the opening ceremony, and it has
facilitated discussions with South
Korean President Moon Jae-In. If
the Olympics were not happening,
countries would be further divided, and
things might have been much worse.

 

 

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(¥ Justice goes both ways

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media

And more!

Why the Gerald Stanley acquittal carries

such weight

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The Olympics
are unnecessary

> Olympic games are a waste of time and money

Jessica Berget
Opinions Editor

 

t’s the second week of the Olympics

being aired on almost every television
screen in the world, which means
it’s the second week of me avoiding
television at all costs. As someone
who does not care for either sports
entertainment, nationalism, or any
variation of the two, the Olympic
games represent the worst of both
worlds. Tie that in with all the billions
of dollars that are spent on the games
and the negative social and economic
effects that come with hosting an
Olympic game, and what you have
is one huge, unnecessary mess.

It’s not the sports aspect that I
have any quarrels with; rather, it’s the
relentless coverage, wasteful nature,
and the whole pizzazz of the games
themselves. Billions of dollars and
many resources are wasted every
time the Olympics take place every
two years, billions of dollars that
can and should have been used in
many other ways that could benefit
the country and its people.

Massive and expensive structures
that are built fora momentary event
such as the Olympics are often left
abandoned and eventually decayed, and
countries that struggle with poverty
get flushed down the economic toilet

after opting to host the Olympic games.
We saw this when Athens hosted

the Olympics in 2004 and went into
recession 10 years after, with many
people noting that the 2004 games
were the starting point for the decline.
A similar thing happened in the 1976
Montreal Winter Olympics. A lot of
construction was needed before the
games started, but most of it wasn’t
finished in time, a mistake that cost the
city $1.2 billion and severely crippled
their financial security for almost 30
years. Even worse was in Beijing in
2008, where they spent $42 billion

on the games and 1.5 million people
were displaced from their homes to
make room to build the Olympic
structures—structures that have since
been abandoned. Many countries leap
at the chance to host an Olympic game
in their major cities, but it comes with
a heavy price-tag and limited benefits,
which makes me question whether it’s
necessary to have an Olympics at all.

I can appreciate the drama and
excitement of the Olympics; of wanting
to be the country with the most gold
medals, or holding the most impressive
world records, but I hardly see the point
in building structures that will never
be used again or wasting money on an
event that only serves as temporary
entertainment. To me, the Olympics are
fun and entertaining in the short-term,
but serve little to no long-term purpose.

Photo by Richard Heathcote via Getty Images