The 2018 Winter Olympic Games

[Hazir]

What I don't quite understand is the willingness to pay that much for this event. Of course it's nice to see The Netherlands somewhere high up the medal's table, but it also show something being 'off' about the winter games; the sports in it are simply not all that widely spread. And in the case of some sports it's pretty much a duopoly of Germany and Norway with other countries barely even knowing what the hell it is they get their medals for.

I mean, about 20 different gold medals for Biathlon?

[wiggin]

What I don't quite understand is the willingness to pay that much for this event. Of course it's nice to see The Netherlands somewhere high up the medal's table, but it also show something being 'off' about the winter games; the sports in it are simply not all that widely spread. And in the case of some sports it's pretty much a duopoly of Germany and Norway with other countries barely even knowing what the hell it is they get their medals for.

I mean, about 20 different gold medals for Biathlon?

Hazir, while I agree with the criticism in general (hell, I hate the Olympics), I think you just have to accept that the Olympics are entirely arbitrary and that success in the medal counts rarely reflects something unique about the country so much as how much the country is willing to invest in a series of events. For a while there was a nice narrative of the US being really good at women's team sports because of Title IX, but even that story is mostly played out by now.

In this context, you have to just go with the flow of the absurdity and recognize it for what it is: ignoring the specifics of which country wins what and how many medals there are for swimming, or biathlon, or badminton, or whatever, but just admiring the individual athleticism on display. It's legitimately impressive, especially for sports where you can't possibly make any money doing the sport and which have impressive challenges.

Take biathlon - it's ridiculous how quickly they're able to slow their heartbeats from full-on cross-country exertion to the calm and measured state needed for accurate target shooting. Or skeleton - someone I know qualified for one of the 30 slots in this Olympics, and he's done it on a shoestring budget with no hope of ever making money on it as a career - and he's willing to bust his ass for years for that opportunity, even though he had no chance of medalling and it's wildly dangerous. I still don't watch the Olympics, but I do admire the individual dedication, athleticism, and skill involved.

[GGT]

....the Olympics are entirely arbitrary and that success in the medal counts rarely reflects something unique about the country so much as how much the country is willing to invest in a series of events....

In this context, you have to just go with the flow of the absurdity and recognize it for what it is: ignoring the specifics of which country wins what and how many medals there are for swimming, or biathlon, or badminton, or whatever, but just admiring the individual athleticism on display. It's legitimately impressive, especially for sports where you can't possibly make any money doing the sport and which have impressive challenges.

Like when an athlete from a Caribbean nation makes the cut for luge or downhill?

...I still don't watch the Olympics, but I do admire the individual dedication, athleticism, and skill involved.

Yes, it's easy to admire elite athletes who can control their bodies, and Biathlon is a great example. But that's no longer what the Olympic Ideal means. Now it's just about finding corporate sponsors that will pay for the training/coaching costs when nations won't. Rather like SpaceX taking NASA's initial investment and taking it to the next level.