The Olympics Have Begun

My favorite non-annual sporting event has come. The Summer Olympic games have started. Normally I am beyond stoked for this to happen and try to hype everyone up about it. However, this time, I did not get that same passion about the Olympic games leading into them for a variety of reasons. No doubt I will watch some and have watched a good chunk already, but these Olympics are flawed. There are many people that share this line of thinking with me.

It just seems hard to get overly excited about an event that is headed by such a corrupt group of people. The IOC is morally bankrupt and they have put the Olympics in a location it should have never been. It is not meant as an insult to Rio or to Brazil, but they are not currently capable of hosting a high quality Olympic games. They got the games through backroom deals. They haven't paid police in months, the crime rate is alarming, the murder rate is more alarming, the water quality is disturbing, and then there is the Zika virus. Now they can't even control the last one, but a lot of hard working athletes were put in harms way by decisions that were not made in the best interest of them. There are serious issues. The athletes well being should be a consideration and it is obviously not when the Olympics are in Rio.

No security, no water to drink, no water that should be swam in, boatloads of crime, and the zika virus. People train their entire lives to get one shot in these games. It is not fair to them to be put in these conditions during these games. Now, Rio is great at some times, this has not always been the case, but they are not currently up to the task. I even hope to visit Rio one day when everything starts to get better, but that is not today. Rio should not have been the choice, that much is abundantly clear to me at least.

Still I watch for the athletes, and still I have watched to support Team USA. It has been thrilling so far and the only major hiccup to this point has been the diving pool turning green. The diving pool turning green is beyond gross though. That alone shows a bit how unfit this location is to host the Olympics.

All that being said, I look forward to the gymnastics team capturing gold tonight and cannot wait for track to start on Friday. It is great to see these sports FINALLY get the attention they deserve. It only happens once every 4 years, but it is awesome to see terrific sports like gymnastics, track, swimming, volleyball, and badminton get some love.

My favorite Olympian is Kerri Walsh-Jennings. Love her and everything she represents. These types of people make the Olympics fun. Her quote "I was born to have babies and play volleyball" is simply fantastic. The gold medal match for beach volleyball will be next Wednesday night and that will be one of the highlights of the two weeks. Walsh will be going for her 4th gold!

There is a lot of fun to be had here.

Just next time, please pick a deserving location IOC.

-Noland