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Washing Away the Olympic Spirit
SAM MICHAELS
Staff Writer
How corruption in Russia, and the civil and political breakdown of the Ukraine have drowned the
lingering high of the Olympics, and sobered the
global community before the athletes had even
returned home.
When the Olympics wrapped up in 2010, it
seemed like the emotional high of Vancouver had
wafted right across the country, leaving Canadians with a happy hangover we were all too content
to let last for weeks. Canada had just broken the
record for most gold medals at a winter Olympics,
Crosby had put the Americans to bed with one of
the all-time classic overtime goals, and an Olympics that had started with fears of too little snow
ended with Canada’s best ever Olympic showing.
Though the games were marred by the tragic
death of an athlete, and local concerns over crowds
and infrastructure, the event was largely seen as a
success worthy of a few weeks of self-congratulation.
Though I write this from half a world away, I
have little doubt that Russians have had to sober
up from the Olympic high much quicker than we
did. The games themselves are coming under
significant scrutiny, and the political tension in
the Ukraine has become a predominant theme in
global politics. Media coverage of the protests is
at an all-time high, and with Putin recently being
granted authority to send troops into the country,
we can be sure the tensions will only continue to
rise. This is not to say that the Olympics were
a failure. Despite some questionable construction
efforts and hotel rooms with, shall we say, varying etiquette standards, the games were a success
for the host nation from an athletic and cultural
standpoint. The Russians proved in many cases
to be gracious and caring hosts, and many of our
athletes returned with significant praise for their
experience in the Olympic village.
Despite the successes, the corruption behind
Sochi is already being well documented. It runs
right through the host notion up to the International Olympic Committee. The IOC has always
been se V