In this global age, why not let a lot of cities (say up to 6 in different countries) host different sports.

This would reduce cost and would enable less rich or influential nations to host events. For example, badminton is huge in Asia so why not Singapore or Indonesia hosting such events.

"There are ways of curing the Olympics of nationalism."

Not voluntarily.

Especially since the 'Olympic Movement' is a collection of national Olympic Committees who certainly have no incentive to do themselves out of positions of authority and who will only begin to panic when cities around the world cease to bid for hosting rights to the Olympic Games.

"What are we to make of the many nations that lack the wealth to host the Olympics? Are they not great?"

Well, to be perfectly honest – many of them aren't. But at least they're represented by athletes, not politicians. Though it needs to be added that the athletes themselves are lauded and feted when 'successful'. So there's at least some focus on the athletes by their home nations – everything from million-dollar payments to national public holidays and naming rights for boulevards.

At least the International Olympic Committee has made provision for athletes like Marial and the trio from the previously Dutch Antilles' Curacao to attend and compete.

Wm Trevor:

...Shouldn’t we (in the name of raw honesty), simply change the name “Olympics” to the more applicable “Austen Tayshus" Games?

Was does the Author think the Games are about? the world champs are for individuals the Games are for countries. I my view the games shouldn't be funded at all. If your friend is worried about South Sudan perhaps he should not go to the games at all and use the the money he save to help out his fellow south sudanees contrymen.

Anyone who takes any aspect of the modern Olympic Games seriously, suffers from a fundamental lack of perspective. Sadly, the Olympics are merely the ultimate in commercialized sport, in competition with such equally irrelevant constructs as the Formula One Grand Prix.

The parallels between the antics of Jacques Rogge and Bernie Ecclestone - or for that matter, Sepp Blatter of FIFA - are instructive.

Please...Why can't we just have another "war" to replace the next olympics? The olympics is the closest obscenity to gay marriage IMO.