This has surpassed doping to many more issues within figure skating, the treatment of minors in sport, the International Olympic Committee, the Olympics in general and of course, Russia’s approach to athletes and sports.
And no one is winning here. In fact, everyone is losing very badly at a time when no one can afford to.
I’m not going to pretend I have any enlightened ideas on how to fix any of the problems. I do think the IOC needs to fully accept Russia has no intentions of changing and make some decisions to help save the integrity of the games.
Because I do worry the games are in trouble overall. Viewership is way down and fewer cities and countries, that aren’t trying to use the games for propaganda, are even expressing interest in hosting. The biggest news stories from the Olympics can’t be about child abuse, doping and human rights if there is any hope of keeping this amazing tradition alive.
Having two COVID games within the same 12 months, both in an opposite time zone is rough and probably negatively influences the public perception of the Olympics more than we even realize. But I’m still optimistic that Paris in 2024 can be a bit of a reset for the Olympics.
Let’s make the focus of the games about the world coming together to celebrate the best athletes competing for glory and inspiring people of all ages to get out there and find their athletic passion, whether it’s a 34-year-old guy in Boston joining a curling league or a 4-year-old girl seeing Erin Jackson and realizing the winter Olympics can also be for her.
Also, scrapbooking, the games should always involve some form of scrapbooking.
Royer's Olympic Blog 