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| The Guardian view on the Rio Olympics: exalted ideals meet a grubbier reality | The Guardian view on the Rio Olympics: exalted ideals meet a grubbier reality |
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| When competitors from more than 200 countries watch the Olympic flame blaze forth from the low-emissions cauldron at the Maracanã stadium in the small hours of Saturday morning, it will mark the culmination of years of preparation. By the time it is extinguished the athletes will have triumphed, fallen short or stumbled, and these 16 days in Brazil will perhaps define their careers forever. | When competitors from more than 200 countries watch the Olympic flame blaze forth from the low-emissions cauldron at the Maracanã stadium in the small hours of Saturday morning, it will mark the culmination of years of preparation. By the time it is extinguished the athletes will have triumphed, fallen short or stumbled, and these 16 days in Brazil will perhaps define their careers forever. |
| The stakes are almost as high for Rio de Janeiro and the Olympic movement itself. True, fretting about the host city’s readiness has become as much a part of the buildup as the torch relay. Concerns about the Zika virus have been overblown and anxieties about security should be kept in perspective, though some athletes have already fallen prey to crime. But the last-minute dash to finish preparations has been at a pace that might startle Usain Bolt; the metro extension opened just this Monday. The British delegation boasts not only coaches and physiotherapists but, because of concerns about the efficiency of the Olympic village’s facilities, its own plumber. | The stakes are almost as high for Rio de Janeiro and the Olympic movement itself. True, fretting about the host city’s readiness has become as much a part of the buildup as the torch relay. Concerns about the Zika virus have been overblown and anxieties about security should be kept in perspective, though some athletes have already fallen prey to crime. But the last-minute dash to finish preparations has been at a pace that might startle Usain Bolt; the metro extension opened just this Monday. The British delegation boasts not only coaches and physiotherapists but, because of concerns about the efficiency of the Olympic village’s facilities, its own plumber. |
| Brazil’s high levels of inequality sharpen questions about who gains from staging the Games and who loses – notably those displaced by construction. The pledge to overhaul sewerage systems should have had widespread benefits, but officials long ago admitted they would fall short: an immediate issue for watersport competitors, a long-term problem for residents. Some people in poorer areas say a pre-Olympics security crackdown has made their lives more risky, not less. | Brazil’s high levels of inequality sharpen questions about who gains from staging the Games and who loses – notably those displaced by construction. The pledge to overhaul sewerage systems should have had widespread benefits, but officials long ago admitted they would fall short: an immediate issue for watersport competitors, a long-term problem for residents. Some people in poorer areas say a pre-Olympics security crackdown has made their lives more risky, not less. |
| When Brazil won the bid, it appeared to crown the nation’s emergence as a major power. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva enjoyed spectacular approval ratings and the economy was riding high. Now the questions over the Games seem to epitomise the country’s plummeting confidence. It is mired in recession and the political fallout from the Petrobras corruption scandal has left Lula facing trial. His successor, Dilma Rousseff, is threatened with an impeachment vote she is expected to lose days after the closing ceremony. The state of Rio de Janeiro declared a fiscal emergency weeks ago, requiring a £680m bailout from central government. Anti-government protesters have blocked the torch’s path. Even the country’s reputation in its favourite sport, football, has been knocked by its disastrous 7-1 defeat in the World Cup. | |
| Related: Former Brazilian president Lula to stand trial on obstruction charges | Related: Former Brazilian president Lula to stand trial on obstruction charges |
| If Brazil appears unlucky, the Olympics as an institution looks equally unhappy. Faced with the difficulties of building a real legacy in sport, tourism and transport, fewer nations seek to host the Games. Doping and corruption allegations persist. A bribery scandal already overshadows preparations for Tokyo 2020. The decision not to impose a blanket ban on Russian athletes, despite a devastating report on a state-sponsored doping cover-up, has aroused further suspicion. | If Brazil appears unlucky, the Olympics as an institution looks equally unhappy. Faced with the difficulties of building a real legacy in sport, tourism and transport, fewer nations seek to host the Games. Doping and corruption allegations persist. A bribery scandal already overshadows preparations for Tokyo 2020. The decision not to impose a blanket ban on Russian athletes, despite a devastating report on a state-sponsored doping cover-up, has aroused further suspicion. |
| Lofty rhetoric about Olympian goals – no less than building a better, more peaceful world – collides embarrassingly with the reality: a multibillion-dollar industry providing a cushy life for officials but doing little for host nations or most athletes. Competitors struggle through years of training, only to find their hard-won glory tarnished: these days, the wonder that greets world-beating performances is often tinged with doubt. The failure to address doping decisively encourages such cynicism. | Lofty rhetoric about Olympian goals – no less than building a better, more peaceful world – collides embarrassingly with the reality: a multibillion-dollar industry providing a cushy life for officials but doing little for host nations or most athletes. Competitors struggle through years of training, only to find their hard-won glory tarnished: these days, the wonder that greets world-beating performances is often tinged with doubt. The failure to address doping decisively encourages such cynicism. |
| Yet, for all their flaws, the Games can still bring inspiration and pride. There was doom-mongering before Athens, Beijing and London; once the sports began, morale rose and – rightly or wrongly – criticism began to sound mean-spirited. This year, spectators will be awed anew by the grace and power of record-breakers and humbled by the resilience of the first refugee team. Against the odds, a kind of magic remains in the Olympics. How much more there could be if the organisers truly sought to live up to their grand ideals. | Yet, for all their flaws, the Games can still bring inspiration and pride. There was doom-mongering before Athens, Beijing and London; once the sports began, morale rose and – rightly or wrongly – criticism began to sound mean-spirited. This year, spectators will be awed anew by the grace and power of record-breakers and humbled by the resilience of the first refugee team. Against the odds, a kind of magic remains in the Olympics. How much more there could be if the organisers truly sought to live up to their grand ideals. |