The Olympic Games came to a close Sunday. The years of planning, building, gathering money, training, sacrificing and dreaming are over after being displayed for the world in a brief, two-week showcase. I used to wonder why anyone would want to devote his or her entire life to becoming an Olympian. It never seemed worth it to me. I certainly wouldn’t want to spend every ounce of my free time training and have my coach and parents be the center of my social life.
At least, that’s what I thought before I traveled home to Utah a few weekends ago. I had the opportunity to attend the Feb. 15 Medals Ceremony in Salt Lake City, where I observed the amazing looks on the faces of the medallists as they watched their flags being raised. With the torch burning, the crowd screaming and the national anthems being played, it was quite a moment to be remembered. I then realized that to have that moment, representing my country with the world watching, would probably make it all worth it.
But would it be worth the effort when most of the attention is taken off your achievement and concentrated on some sort of Olympic scandal? Unfortunately, the word “scandal” seems to be as popular in Olympic reporting as the words “gold medallist.” And it’s not just a problem with athletes. Even judges are in on the conspiracy. Is national honor important enough that judges would work together to make their respective countries win? I think there’s something else projecting its influence here.

The Olympics have become a giant means for making money. If you become the gold medallist, you don’t just receive the honor of being the best, you are also offered thousands, or millions, of dollars from companies for advertising campaigns and contracts with various production shows. An Olympic winner has the chance to become as well known as the stars in Hollywood, and that’s unfortunate. For some judges and athletes, the love of the sport is just not enough — it has to be about money.
Now the Olympic committee claims it is going to change the judging process, at least for the ice-skating competition. But will this really prevent scandals in future Olympic Games? It is unfortunate that of all the things the 2002 Winter Olympics could be remembered for, “Skategate” will be going down as one of the top stories.
And such is the fate of capitalism, right? Perhaps, but I don’t think we should just sit back and accept it; things can and ought to be reformed. Governments could be more involved so that the Olympics would be funded less by companies so athletes could sign a contract promising not to accept any offerings from advertising agencies until a year or so after the Olympics — giving the commotion surrounding winning enough time to subside. These are ideas that might be difficult to implement, but that doesn’t mean the ultimate goal can’t be reached.
Sadly enough, people don’t always place a high value on their personal integrity, but perhaps by reforming the commercialization of the Olympics a little, we could at least limit the benefits of sacrificing that integrity. With all the time and energy put into making the Olympics a memorable and worldwide “coming together,” they ought to be remembered for the athletes’ achievements and not the risqué behavior behind the scenes.