Does the IOC Need A Fresh Breath of Air?

Throwing you a bender because I just thought you should know...

Maybe it is just me but it seems that the International Olympic Committee has gotten just a little too stuffy and full of themselves.

Being old enough to remember the Munich Games of 1972 and the tragedy that occurred with the murder of eleven athletes and coaches 40 years ago, it was completely appropriate in my mind to have a moment and acknowledge them at some point during the current Games. It could have been done during the Opening ceremonies, at some midway point through the Games during a singular and specific observance, or even during the Closing ceremony.

The IOC did not find it fitting to do so and offered a statement saying it was not in the spirit of the Opening ceremonies to have such a moment. Not in the spirit? Sixty seconds of silence for eleven murdered participants during a three hour extravaganza would dampen the Olympic spirit? I believe such a moment may raise the spirit even higher allowing all those involved to remember that this is a sportsmanship event that is intended to rise above politics and any disputes or wars between countries.

Now we have eight Olympic badminton players being disqualified for not trying hard enough and tanking matches. The eight players had already qualified for the elimination round when they stopped trying to win. The theory is that the players tried to lose in order to set up an easier match in the next round. So now the Badminton World Federation and IOC must get involved. How does this turn out? The players who tanked the matches are disqualified from the Games and disgraced. The players who thought they won honestly feel humiliated and mad. Fans who bought tickets are not being offered a refund because the IOC has stated there were other legitimate matches to watch. However, they are offering free tickets to the cycling!

My real question is how can the IOC be so shocked and display outrage at this happening? After all, when it set up a format in a competition that rewards players for losing, how could they have ever predicted that players would try to get rewarded for losing? Stunning!

Finally, we also witness Michael Phelps becoming the greatest medal winning Olympian of all time. In doing so, he passed Russian gymnast Larisa Latynina, considered to be the sport’s first female superstar. Latynina won 18 medals for the Soviet Union from 1956 to 1964, winning her final medal at age 29!

Possessing the spirit of a true Olympian, Latynina was willing and eager to pass her "most medal" title to Phelps in a personal way — by presenting Phelps his gold medal for the relay at the ceremony.

Olympic regulations forbade her act of generosity.

The IOC, of course, can  make exceptions and rulings on everything under the Olympic umbrella. So here we have history made in the Olympic Aquatics Centre and yet the International Olympic Committee missed out on the chance to make more history. For some reason (one statement from the IOC claimed they would have to make these exceptions for everyone) the IOC refused to create a special moment and allow the previous record holder to present Phelps with his historic medal.

This was not just another medal and another world record for some event.  This was the passing of a lifetime achievement that had stood for nearly five decades. In addition, this was a chance for two athletes from completely different disciplines to unite. A chance for athletes from two countries vastly different with a history of being rivals to meet and share a moment. It was a chance for the goodwill and sportsmanship  associated with the Olympics to be captured forever as one athlete be allowed to go forward on her own idea and reward another athlete for a monumental accomplishment.

Yet the IOC, who will probably not have any current members live long enough to see such an occurrence again, gave a basketball administrator the responsibility of giving a medal to the greatest-ever Olympian.

Can we look forward to Rio in 2016 with a new outlook from this committee...please?

All this because I know more about nothing...