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For all sorts of reasons (political, financial) the Olympics should be held in the same location, and that location is Switzerland. Here is a great and heartbre

For all sorts of reasons (political, financial) the Olympics should be held in the same location, and that location is Switzerland. Here is a great and heartbreaking editorial from former rower Charles Banks-Altekruse as to why: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/01/opinion/01altekruse.html http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/01/opinion/01altekruse.html

bluthru 12y ago
I like the idea of using Greece every year (like we used to). Their economy needs the support more than a country that get by on seedy banking practices.
- aikah 12y ago
  The olympics basically ruined Greece.That's not a good idea,unless someone else pays for it. Olympics were a financial distaster for that country,olympic installations are basically roting today.
  - seizethecheese 12y ago
    It ruined then because the infrastructure was only used once.
  - edias 12y ago
    That's as much their fault as it is the Olympics, plenty of other places (mostly smaller cities) are thriving because of the jump start the Olympics gave them.
  - snowwrestler 12y ago
    If the same event was held there every 4 years, they could reuse much of the hard infrastructure and generate more return on not much more investment. That said, it will never happen because the IOC is effectively a PR firm at this point, they'll make much more money from a new country every 4 years than they will from Greece repeatedly.
dfc 12y ago
Heartbreaking?
- julienchastang 12y ago
  "In 1980, I was supposed to compete with the United States rowing team in Moscow, but instead, like 466 other American athletes, I stayed home. Eventually we were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in appreciation for our role in the boycott. Thirty years later, I would still rather have earned the Olympic medal that our team was favored to win." I read this editorial four years ago, and I think of it often. It speaks of broken dreams (i.e., "I coulda been a contender"), what could have been, and the human experience.
  - dfc 12y ago
    When I look back on the consequences of the cold war, the fact that this gentleman did not get the gold medal (that he assumes he would have won) is not even close to making the list of heartbreaking episodes. Furthermore, one has lived a charmed life if the biggest "heartbreak" you experience is not competing for a gold medal that you were "favored to win." The 12 people that died in the Munich Massacre[^1] are a poignant reminder of this simple truth. [^1]: It was not clear to me why the author offered the Munich Massacre among the political costs of rotating the venue for the Olympics. It seems rather absurd to suggest that hosting the games in Switzerland would have prevented anything. Simply being in Switzerland did not prevent the Zug massacre.
    - notahacker 12y ago
      Sure, not being able to a compete for a gold medal is not as bad as being locked in a gulag for a decade, in the same way your startup failing is not as bad as Ebola, and your fiance saying "it's not you, it's me" and running off to the other side of the world is not as bad watching your entire family being massacred by ISIS. Human emotion isn't based on a sense of perspective.
      - dfc 12y ago

bluthru 12y ago

I like the idea of using Greece every year (like we used to). Their economy needs the support more than a country that get by on seedy banking practices.

aikah 12y ago
The olympics basically ruined Greece.That's not a good idea,unless someone else pays for it. Olympics were a financial distaster for that country,olympic installations are basically roting today.
- seizethecheese 12y ago
  It ruined then because the infrastructure was only used once.
- edias 12y ago
  That's as much their fault as it is the Olympics, plenty of other places (mostly smaller cities) are thriving because of the jump start the Olympics gave them.
- snowwrestler 12y ago
  If the same event was held there every 4 years, they could reuse much of the hard infrastructure and generate more return on not much more investment. That said, it will never happen because the IOC is effectively a PR firm at this point, they'll make much more money from a new country every 4 years than they will from Greece repeatedly.

dfc 12y ago

Heartbreaking?

julienchastang 12y ago
"In 1980, I was supposed to compete with the United States rowing team in Moscow, but instead, like 466 other American athletes, I stayed home. Eventually we were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in appreciation for our role in the boycott. Thirty years later, I would still rather have earned the Olympic medal that our team was favored to win." I read this editorial four years ago, and I think of it often. It speaks of broken dreams (i.e., "I coulda been a contender"), what could have been, and the human experience.
- dfc 12y ago
  When I look back on the consequences of the cold war, the fact that this gentleman did not get the gold medal (that he assumes he would have won) is not even close to making the list of heartbreaking episodes. Furthermore, one has lived a charmed life if the biggest "heartbreak" you experience is not competing for a gold medal that you were "favored to win." The 12 people that died in the Munich Massacre[^1] are a poignant reminder of this simple truth. [^1]: It was not clear to me why the author offered the Munich Massacre among the political costs of rotating the venue for the Olympics. It seems rather absurd to suggest that hosting the games in Switzerland would have prevented anything. Simply being in Switzerland did not prevent the Zug massacre.
  - notahacker 12y ago
    Sure, not being able to a compete for a gold medal is not as bad as being locked in a gulag for a decade, in the same way your startup failing is not as bad as Ebola, and your fiance saying "it's not you, it's me" and running off to the other side of the world is not as bad watching your entire family being massacred by ISIS. Human emotion isn't based on a sense of perspective.
    - dfc 12y ago