Games of the XXXII Olympiad - Tokyo 2021 (1 Viewer)

This is what gets me. Like, I mean, I know we'll see every time Simone gets her foot wrapped or blows her nose; but we won't see much of the rest of the team. I'm gonna have to be scouring other sources to see everything I really want to.
Yes, I’ll watch Coxless Pairs over ‘hey don’t we miss Michael Phelps’ pieces all day everyday
 
I sorta understand why not everyone likes the Olympics -- I mean, no one gives a snot about swimming at any other time but all of a sudden we care deeply -- but not completely. And I can't explain why I like them. I would say it's because I'm a traditionalist, but then that's pretty disingenuous of me since they bear zero resemblance to the ancient games. And oftentimes, they aren't what they SHOULD be, which is just an athlete in pursuit of a sport they love. But it's still the humanness that comes through all of that. And if you get to say "ex-Olympian" on your CV or your bio or your epitaph whether you won a medal or you finished dead last, it still means something.
 
I sorta understand why not everyone likes the Olympics -- I mean, no one gives a snot about swimming at any other time but all of a sudden we care deeply -- but not completely. And I can't explain why I like them. I would say it's because I'm a traditionalist, but then that's pretty disingenuous of me since they bear zero resemblance to the ancient games. And oftentimes, they aren't what they SHOULD be, which is just an athlete in pursuit of a sport they love. But it's still the humanness that comes through all of that. And if you get to say "ex-Olympian" on your CV or your bio or your epitaph whether you won a medal or you finished dead last, it still means something.
I still love the Olympics. But, this year, I'll be in the middle of a move, so I won't be as into it as I'd like.
 
I don't have a problem with professionals competing, I think the purpose is to provide an international platform for the best athletes in the world to compete for a single award - professional status is immaterial from that perspective. I get that it until 1986 (so for the first 90 years of the modern Olympics), it was exclusively amateurs. But 35 years since the decision, it seems like it is appropriate.

The whole games have become so commercialized, it would present some weird dynamics to continue to insist that only amateurs can perform. And these days, it's really hard to define what an amateur is anyway. For example, consider a swimmer who does not participate in any sort of professional swimming organization but who earns $50K (or more depending on how many) from the US Olympic Committee for winning medals and has endorsement deals of various worth that form the person's income. Is that person a professional? If yes, then what really is the point of insisting on amateur status other than to open up the podium to 'regular Joes' and not people who work their whole lives on that sport? If no, then what constitutes a professional and how is that distinction not purely arbitrary - both are making a living performing in that sport.
 

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