Bonus- The Olympics: What's the deal? by Bailey West

Honestly, I know next to nothing about the Olympics. I've never been much of a sports person or adamant about following the summer or winter Olympics. I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've watched it. I'm not caught up in the competing athletes and don't really care what country wins. However, this year my opinion of the Olympics has shifted. I work at a pizza place, we have TV's and have had the Olympics on almost every night.  I also see it when I'm at the gym or scrolling through various social media sites. Unlike years before, I've had more direct exposure to the Olympics this year. This has lead to a general shift in my views of the Olympics. It started with general surprise at the sports in the Olympics and the dedication of the competitors. Then, I became more interested in the international relationships between countries in the Olympics and the competition's role in politics.

The first time I saw the Olympics this year, the sport being played was Skeleton (pictured below). I remember stopping in my tracks and thinking "Uh, what the heck is that? Olympic sledding??". Maybe it's my lack of knowledge of sports, but half the time I catch myself watching the Olympics I look at it and think "What the heck? That's a sport?". Some other sports that caught my eye or confused me thoroughly were curling and ski jumping. I don't mean any disrespect and I don't consider any of them invalid, but I was in awe and surprised that I didn't know these sports existed. This surprise peaked my interest and made me more attentive to the stories I came across about the Olympics.


https://www.pyeongchang2018.com/en/sports/skeleton

With the peaked interest in the Olympics this year, I began to notice how the Olympics can have a political impact. I came across a news story about gay Olympians saying they thought Vice President Pence was a bad choice to represent the US because of his anti-LGBT views. I am queer myself so this was definitely interesting and relevant to me. I think these Olympians are strong for not only working so hard to get to where they are, but for representing the US as openly gay individuals. It would be discouraging to be in their shoes and see Pence "representing" them during the competition, knowing that he truly isn't on your side and doesn't support your rights.

In Siddharth Bhattacharya's article "Why are Olympic Games important for participating nations?" he recognizes that the "Olympics have come to signify a stage for political statements". He mentions a few more instances where the Olympics were intertwined with politics. For example, there was a "boycott by the capitalist countries (US and 64 others) in 1980 Moscow, while boycott by communist bloc (Soviet and 13 others) in 1984 Los Angeles" (Bhattacharya). I find this interesting about the Olympics- how it can be used as a political stage. It can be used to give people a platform to speak out against injustices they face, like with the gay Olympic skaters. However, a country can also boycott the competition to send a message about political relations at the time.

Overall, I think it was worth it to me to pay more attention to the Olympics this year. I've realized that it's not just one big silly sports competition. Instead, it's an accumulation of different nations and cultures. It celebrates the work of athletes who trained their butts off. It also serves a higher purpose of providing a political stage to bring important issues to international discourse.