The 2016 Rio Olympics: A Diamond in the Rough

“A New World”; the motto for the 2016 Rio Olympic games. Rio 2016 was an Olympic event with a lot to remember it by. From Usain Bolts superiority on the track to the Zika Virus, the Summer Olympics in 2014 had very many talking points. Brazil won the right to host the 2104 games over three other potential host cities. The short list consisted of Madrid, Tokyo, and, Chicago; in that order with Brazil triumphing all of them.

Many political events were going on at the time. The most notable being the rise of ISIS. Their streak of causing havoc and taking and then killing hostages was at an all-time peak. Videos surfaced the internet of ISIS training videos and execution videos. “No matter how old one was, ISIS had become like a real life boogie man that everyone feared.” (Vox) Their wide spread connection caused unrest for this games as security was major priority. It was the perfect place for ISIS to strike fear in the eyes of the world; it’s the Olympics, everyone is watching them. ISIS also played a huge part in one of the major military conflicts going in at the time, the Syrian Civil War. The Syrian Civil war was a result of the Arab Spring in 2011, a series of uprisings by the people of Middle Eastern countries to overthrow the current government. In a way this can be looked at as a cold war conflict. Looking back to the Russian invasion of Afghanistan in 1980, the US aided the soon to be al-Qaeda to fight against the soviets. This started the trend of these various militant groups and ISIS can be looked at as a result of this trend. The unrest in Syria continues to this day. These events most definitely influenced the location of the games as no country in the Middle East, North Africa, or any country that has threats of such insurgent groups can host the games. There was no direct terrorist threat to these games but security was on high alert as the Olympic games would be a prime target for a group like ISIS. Protests for these games loomed large. Mostly Brazilian natives were the ones fueling these long demonstrations. Brazil was not in the best economic state at the time. Many people were upset as the country was putting so much effort and capital into hosting these games when they felt that all these resources should be put into bettering the country.

These Olympic games had the spotlight on many athletes. Two of these athletes being the fastest human in the water and the fastest human on land. Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympian of all time with 28 medals; 23 of them being golds. In Rio, 5 of his 6 medals were Gold. The fastest human on land, Usain Bolt, won gold in 4x100 relay, 200m, and the famous 100m dash. The amazing era of Bolt and Phelps came to an end that year in Rio as they both retired from Olympic competition. Another athlete that gained some attention for not as admirable actions was one of Phelps’s teammates on the USA national swim team, Ryan Lochte. Lochte was involved in a scandal where him and three other teammates vandalized a gas station bathroom and was caught. He later lied about the situation saying he was robbed at gun point. Security camera footage revealed his lies and slowly but surely the endorsement deals started pulling out.

Gender was a huge theme in these games especially surrounding the great runner, Caster Semenya. Caster Semenya was a dominant force when it came to women’s running. “I always wanted to be the best runner or best footballer.” (Semanya; Link Show) The South African International not only in 2016 but years prior was in in the middle of talk about having intersex traits. Which means she is a woman but may have testosterone levels of a man, giving her an unfair advantage over other female runner; or so as it was argued. “The muscular, deep-voiced 18-year-old had caused rumor to swirl when she improved her personal best by seven seconds in less than nine months that year.” (Fordyce) It’s almost as if she had to not improve and decrease in athletic performance to get outside approval. Even when she won in Rio she was criticized not by only the media and commentators but, by the people running beside her. “Everyone can see its two separate races so there’s nothing I can do,” said Lynsey Sharp (Ingle) who got 6th place in the 800m when Semenya won the Gold.

The US again dominated the medal count with 46 gold medals and 121 total medals. That’s 54 medals more than second place (in total medals) China. The top 5 countries ordered by gold medal wins were the United States, Great Britain, China, Russia, and Germany in that order. The host’s Brazil ranked at number 13.

Rio seemed to mostly dodge propaganda about the games. Their biggest sense of this was through their emblem in mascots that symbolized unity and togetherness. In terms of advertisement it mostly revolved around the committee bringing in the usual big name Olympic partners such as Coca Cola and Samsung. Most of their pride came from the fact that they had won the right to host the games.

The 2016 Rio games are very much looked at as a cultural and economic success but, only to a certain extent. As a whole, these games were the most consumed Olympics games in history. The role of social media and the internet played a huge party in this as over 7 billion video views were of official Olympic content. This gave a lot of exposure to the city of Rio. “The renovations and modifications made to high quality public transportation availability for the games increase from 18% in 2009 to 63% in 2016.” (IOC) Over 11,000 athletes participated in these games of 45% of that number were Women, the highest number ever in the Olympic games. Among these athletes was also the first ever Refugee team. “The success of the Olympic Games Rio 2016 brought pride and confidence to all Brazilians, bringing together the whole country at a difficult time.” (IOC) Although many successes came from the Rio Olympics, what was ultimately left behind is “A city and country shrouded by corruption, debt, and broken promises” (Drehs & Lajolo) Due to this fact there was a good amount of political criticism received as things in other fields turned out not so great for the 2016 Olympic hosts. “According to Brazil's Institute of Public Safety, street robberies are up 48 percent and deadly assaults by 21 percent, to the highest rates since 2009. In the first three months of 2017, violent crime spiked 26 percent compared with the same period in 2016.” (Drehs & Lajolo) Other criticisms they face come from their own people. The same reasons they protested before the games continued to be a reason to speak out to the country once the games were over. Many of Brazil’s people already thought that the money being spent on the games should be put towards improving the lives of the people. And now the ROC still owes over $40 million to creditors that they can’t even pay back in money. “We have built a fantastic legacy for the city that was only possible thanks to the Olympic games,” said Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes. A quote with much more than meets the eye.

Brazil’s Rio Olympics brought many highlights to the Olympics and sports in general. Through controversy before, during, and after the games, Rio 2016 exposed the world to an event that will go down in history books. Many will remember it by the incredible performances by the likes of Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt, and the US National Gymnastics team. Others will remember Lochtegate and the not so great aftermath that the games left behind. At the end of the day, Rio 2016 will go down as one of the most decorated sporting events in history.