Hi there DAVID F...

What a sad state of affairs when money becomes the epicentre of everything associated with sport or any active recreational pursuit. Of course the Olympic organisers, might take all reasonable steps to ensure all competitors are rigorously screened to make certain they're bona fide amateurs.

While everything else that matters will no doubt, have a 'dollar amount' structured into it, entirely to make sure it's capable of proliferating considerably more revenue, in order to establish whether it's economical viable of even staging the Olympics at all. After all, the Olympics are very much a fiscal imperative aren't they? And sport itself is merely peripheral and inconsequential.

Dear David F.,

Yes, granted the games are expensive, complex to put on,
and marred by drug use and bribery. However, perhaps we
should be writing about how to reform and strengthen the games
instead of wiping off the ancient concept altogether.

There's a reason the Olympics has survived the generations through
war, scandal, tragedy, and controversy. There's a reason why the
Games still inspire the young and old and why billions around
the world tune in to watch the spectacle of the ceremonies and
athletes around the world. However we may define it, there is
little doubt that the Olympics inspire in a unique way - the
Olympic Spirit moves the soul and hopefully will continue to
do so for a long time yet.

Instead of eliminating the Games - we need to look at overhauling
them. Bring back Peace and Good-Will as the desired goals.
After all the Games do generate revenue for the Host countries.
The Games are an excellent way for different countries to come
together for diplomatic reasons. The Representatives for these
different countries are able to come together in a non-threatening
way. And of course the Games give athletes a reason to strive
for excellence in their chosen sport in order to be able to
represent their country and win the highest accolade - Gold -
a recognition as being the best.

Dear Foxy,

I think it is a trivial exercise to train a person to jump higher, run faster or outdo another person in some other physical way. It is only a limited period of their lives that they can perform in such a manner, and they have the rest of their lives to live. Their intensive athletic training to reach those goals may and often does occupy them to such an extent that they are not adequately grounded in the arts, sciences and familiarity with the wonders of nature that a better rounded person achieves. What do they do when they have passed the bloom of youth? Do they endorse products, be a front person for a sales effort, comment on sports, go in for drugs or get involved in other activities that former athletes do when they have passed their glory days? Intense athletic training can mean a deprived life after glory because the athlete has been given neither the time nor opportunity to learn about non-sport activity.

The games in general do not inspire peace and good will. They are a competitive exercise, and the couch potatoes who watch can imagine that their country is somehow better than other countries as their athletes can outdo athletes of other countries.

There are measures of excellence of a country that are more worthwhile than the medals gained in international competitions.

Can we have a lower infant mortality rate? Do all of our citizens have an adequate diet? How do our students stand in numeracy, knowledge of literature and science and other measures of academic excellence? What is our level of corruption? Rather than have a few highly skilled athletes compete while most watch wouldn’t be better if more of us actually participated in sport and keeping fit?

A true amateur not only competes in sports for the love of it but has a full life outside of sport. When sport takes over a person’s entire life whether or not they get money for the effort is immaterial. They have lost much of what makes life worthwhile

Dear David F.,

Thank You for your views and you do raise some valid
points. However, I believe in the Olympic Games.
To me the Games are a way of building bridges between
countries. I believe that Pierre de Coubertin saw
the purpose of the modern Olympic Games as a way of
promoting peace and unity within the International
Community through the medium of sports. A way of
bringing political enemies together. A way of breaking
down cultural barriers and bringing people together.

The number of countries and athletes continues to grow
with 204 countries participating in the 2008 Olympics and
more that 10,000 athletes in the 2012 Olympics.

The games unite nations throughout the world and show
different countries the human side of nations of which
they are unfamiliar. While yes, the Olympics are about
competition and winning they are also about learning about
other cultures and the similarities between all cultures.
In this day and age it is good to learn what unites us
and not focus on what divides us.

Trade, travel, and telecommunications have made the nations
of the modern world more interdependent than ever before.
Yet today's societies entered the nuclear age with political
institutions inherited from a previous era. The human population
is spread among a series of sovereign independent states -most
of them with their own armed forces and so there is a built-in
potential for warfare whenever two nations have conflicting
interests. Therefore having events such as the Olympic Games -
that unite nations - to me at least, seems like a good idea.

Dear Foxy,

You wrote: "However, I believe in the Olympic Games."

Against belief there are no rational arguments.

I agree completely with this article and the supporting comments. Either return to the amateur games as they began, or scrap the entire shebang and spend the billions of dollars wasted on creating elite processional athletes in 'Sports academies', on improving the health and well-being of our nation's children through a wide variety of non-competitive but enjoyable physical activities that generate a love of exercise and fitness and health.