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.

Nations come and nations go.Getting to excited about nationality is a little silly however everyone seems to need to belong. What is far more sickening than nationalism is socialism where often corrupt indignant world leaders full of arrogance use the name of science or some other fallacy to take money off hard working people and feed it into help funds that rarely help the poor. At then end of the day the Olympics has become a tool for political propaganda. If you don't believe that you must have missed the carefully selected Q&A panel last night sprouting their regressive ideas.

btw I could never work out that those who are so loathing about British culture are so protective and promoting of indigeneous culture. I must have missed something. come back Barnaby all is forgiven!

I don't often agree with Runner but on this occasion I do. He said: "At then end of the day the Olympics has become a tool for political propaganda."

Who.S.A. is probably the major offender although other nations are getting in on the act ready to prove that they can provide the best sportspeople that money can provide.

One thing that is evident is that there is huge inequality between nations in terms of their Olympic budgets and the size of their populations. Then I guess that's where the drugs come in for those who can afford to buy them.

If only the Olympics had retained its original simplicity and its goal of encouraging peace between nations.

Instead it is an orgy of advertising, conceit, one-upmanship, and division.

And not only the Olympics have degenerated in this fashion, David G.

>>Instead it is an orgy of advertising, conceit, one-upmanship, and division.<<

That could so easily describe our form of government. Not merely the current one, the whole shooting match, with its travesties of preselection, its PR-driven policy development, its election-manifesto mendacity and its corrupt/inefficient/mollycoddled administration.

In fact the Olympics are a near-perfect reflection of the decline of our global civilization, and the bellwether of our return journey to irrelevance.

Yeah, ok, just a tad OTT. But it has been a long day.

Now that the games have become a TV event

One should set a fixed time

Fixed venues sports are always held eg.

Gymnastics in china

Swimming in Australia (since it would be winter in aus Brisbane would be ideal )

Polo in India

Fencing in France

Basket ball in the USA

Marathon opening and closing in Greece

Boxing in UK

Equestrian in Brazil

Ect.

Any competitor that can meet the entry times and is not backed by a national team enters under the UN flag

There should be no patent rights allowed to the IO

Meanwhile… on the other hand, and despite all of the above and the environment (or gilded cages) in which it occurs which is for the benefit of the organisers, sponsors and spectators…

The entire gallimaufry of excess is worth it just to have reportage like:

www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1673668/Legally-blind-archer-sets-first-world-record

I don't feel too bad about not having seen the event since Im Dong-Hyun didn't even see the replay.