Seems I’m almost as bad at blogging as I’ve been at keeping a journal. Blame it on the Olympics, perhaps. Since NBC made the wise decision of putting footage from all the events online, I’ve been able to watch the sports I actually care about, as well as the sports that are popular. Unfortunately, unless it’s a top event, NBC didn’t cut any highlights, opting to simply post the 5 hours of Equestrian Cross-Country. Even with the TiVo-like ability to skip around the video, it can take awhile to get through.
Most of the sports I’ve competed in or follow cost a lot of money — skiing, rowing, sailing, equestrian. This means that only the most well-funded of Olympic teams field competitors, and only the most well-funded of competitors make the cut to begin with. Most people I know who take part in these sports are self-conscious about the divide, and in the US, programs are popping up to try to make it possible for kids to experience expensive sports. But it’s not just about money. Coaching, education, location, and time are serious factors. I remember spending hours learning about everything from the life cycles of common parasites to psychology when I was competing horses.
Some have argued that because of these sports’ obvious, and seemingly unbridgeable inaccessibility, they have no place at the Olympics. There are many reasons why they’re not going anywhere, and I think they belong as part of the Games — and inclusion is only one piece of the Olympic spirit. But there’s a good point here. How is sailing a fair sport, when individuals from landlocked, arid countries want to compete but have no way to train?
The number of people with ready access to the Internet is growing. Could it be, with it becoming more possible to watch footage from any sport, that it might get easier to find eyeballs, and dollars to finance athletes from less affluent parts of the world? It’s a long shot. But long shots make the best Olympic stories, so I hope to see it tried.
