Olympics

My name‿ is Nick. I watch‿ every Olympic Games│ an(d) have read‿ enough concerning the hos(t) cities to be uneasy about‿ an‿ event‿ I continue to enjoy,│ which‿ is not‿ a contradiction so much‿ as‿ an‿ admission.

The symbolic value is genuine. For‿ a fortnight,│ athletes from two hundred countries compete‿ under‿ identical rules,│ and‿ a competitor from‿ a nation with three medals may defeat one from‿ a nation with three hundred. Qualification,│ however,│ is far from‿ equitable,│ an(d) the amateurism that│ once justified the movemen(t) has been superseded by commercialisation,│ which supplies funding‿ an(d) pressure‿ in‿ equal measure. Credibility is sustained by anti-doping work that necessarily lags behin(d) those‿ it seeks to detect.

The graver‿ issue is‿ expenditure. Cities have borrowed billions for‿ infrastructure that subsequently stands‿ empty,│ an(d) the legacy has been negative‿ in several documented‿ instances. My position‿ is│ that I^{thad I} should retain the Games‿ and‿ alter the format:│ use‿ existing venues,│ distribute‿ events‿ across several cities,│ and‿ abandon the pretence that‿ a fortnight's festival can transform‿ an‿ economy. Where the cos(t) cannot be justified to the residents‿ of the host city^ci-dy,│ it cannot be justified‿ at all^adall. Vanity projects have‿ a dependable habit‿ of being financed by people│ who will never‿ atten(d) them,│ an(d) the rhetoric‿ of legacy is usually supplied by those│ who profit from‿ it.