The show must go on

It is very painful to acknowledge when something that has for long time been a passion can no longer be regarded as such. It is a gradual process but one day you wake up and you suddenly realize it. The only thing left to do is to try to understand what exactly killed that specific passion. 

This is what I am facing right now with the Olympic Games. 

As long as I can remember I have loved watching them. Following the different disciplines and looking for heroic acts of true greatness.

Suddenly today half way through the Rio Olympic Games 2016 this passion has died in me.  As I have said it has no doubt been a process but now that the process is complete I can also with certainty say what triggered it: the corruption and doping scandals.

For a long time I still wanted to believe that at least in minor sports athletes competed only for the sake of the sport and for the sake of their passion but the latest doping scandal involving a race walking athlete (I can hardly believe that much money is involved in race walking) and the mix of interests and shady businesses that this scandal unearthed  was really the last drop for me.

It was even worse than the Russian athletics state doping scandal, at least it that case one had the confirmation that doping is a system. 

I am starting to believe that doping is a system (even though not state run) everywhere for a lot of sports. If you do not get into the system there is no way that you can reach the level required even for the regional tournaments! So accidentally from time to time one gets caught, but what about the others? Are they really so innocent as they profess? Sorry but the seed of the doubt has been planted in my mind and it won't go away.

As usual I will make a parallel with a movie that will help explain my point of view, Quiz Show. 

I think I have already mentioned this movie in a previous post, and if you have not already watched it you should either do it or stop reading my blog!

Anyway what I am afraid of is that one day, like in the movie, we will find out that most  of the top sporters cheat and we will all feel stupid for having believed that they didn't. We will feel outraged and then (like in the movie) somebody will tell us - "why are you feeling outraged it's just a game!" And we will feel stupid again!

What happened to good old Baron de Coubertin, well now I really am sliding into the ridiculous, participating just for the sake of participating has never really been the point for anybody at the Olympics, maybe only for the athletes depicted in Chariots of Fire (another great movie) and not even. Certainly not for most of the athletes in Rio today!

What is the point of the Olympics then I ask you? Of course it is a show, nothing else comes to mind, and maybe this is the problem.

I do not even want to touch the ethics of spending tens of billions for sport infrastructure that in one month nobody will use anymore, in countries where the majority of population lives in poverty. 

And do not come and tell me the the Olympics bring economic development, it has already been proven not to be true.

I almost feel like saying why don't we abolish them then. And most of you will tell me to hold my tongue and just enjoy the show. But I can't anymore when all I think is: how many and which one of these medals will be withdrawn when the lab results will be in?