While many fans cheer for their idolized Olympic athletes every four years from the comfort of their homes, thousands of people get abused by their governments to make way for the “extravagant” show.
The Olympics have consistently been detrimental to its host country’s people, according to a July 29 Washington Post article.
Just in the 2020 Summer Tokyo Olympics alone, about 300 families were displaced to make room for the games, according to the same Washington Post article.
But this didn’t just occur in Tokyo. Harsh displacement has been a continued trend for the Olympics, despite the perilous coronavirus pandemic.
The Tokyo Olympics took place July 23 to Aug. 8 after being pushed back because of the pandemic. It was originally scheduled to be in July 2020.
While the delay increased the cost for Japan to host the games with rough estimates showing more than $14 billion being spent, the biggest cost of the Olympics was the effects it had on Japan’s people, according to an Aug. 6 New York Times article.
The games exacerbated the effect the pandemic was already spewing on the people of Japan, especially because only 36% of the population was fully vaccinated at the time, according to Our World in Data.
The Olympics also had a similar impact on previous host-countries, even ones that were not impacted by a global pandemic.
In 2016, Rio de Janeiro spent $13 billion to host the Olympics. It built massive infrastructure, cleaned up Guanabara Bay and created an entirely new subway line for the games.
Meanwhile, more than 3,000 Rio de Janeiro residents were displaced, according to an Aug. 5, 2016 Forbes article.
Any displacement caused by the games is cruel and unacceptable as whole families and livelihoods get uprooted or entirely lost.
There can be many incentives to host the Olympics, such as an increase in tourism and infrastructure development.
However, countries are too quick to neglect their local residents for the sake of vain tourism.
In countries with giant wealth disparities, the poor are neglected and shunned by their own government.
Throughout the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, attendees were kept at a distance from the favelas, where about 1.5 million people live, according to a Catalytic Communities article.
Favelas are neighborhood slums that are usually densely populated and have inadequate living conditions according to Britannica.
Many Japanese people felt largely ignored by their government, which put the Tokyo Olympics ahead of their own health, according to the same Aug. 6 New York Times article.
The Olympics are supposed to be a celebration for the people as much as it’s for the country’s leaders.
A survey conducted prior to the games in Japan reported 83% of the Japanese public didn’t want Tokyo to host the games because of the pandemic, according to a May 18 New York Times article.
The pandemic appeared as a giant shadow above Tokyo with the city’s own people in the dark. The games made up a bubble within the Olympic village where the athletes resided, while Tokyo tried to mask the effects the pandemic was having on its people.
Tokyo had some of the highest case numbers in Japan with more than 330,000 reported COVID-19 infections, according to today’s Google News data. Moreover, the nearly empty stadiums and few business sponsors made it difficult to ignore the pandemic.
Tokyo was placed under a state of emergency because of the increase in COVID-19 cases, according to an Aug. 10 Al Jazeera article.
Al Jazeera is a private, international news source based partially in the Middle Eastern country of Qatar.
There were 320 cases linked directly to the games within the Olympic village, according to an Aug. 4 BBC article.
What’s even more harrowing is the number of cases outside the village.
Japan made it apparent that lighting the Olympic torch was far more pressing than public health and safety.
Japan’s government wanted visitors to only see the pretty infrastructure and grand display of affluence. They didn’t want anyone to see those who were affected by the pandemic, lower-income people and the numerous displaced residents.
Many small businesses spent thousands of dollars renovating their stores in preparation for the influx of tourists, according to an Aug. 6 New York Times article.
As most tourists vacated after the games, many businesses had no way to offset the overwhelming cost of renovations. This added further financial burden stemmed from the pandemic.
Hosting the Olympics in the middle of a global pandemic was reckless and it shows.
With Los Angeles set to host the 2028 Olympics, it’s already proven its pride comes before its people.
Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti passed an amendment on July 29 that stated homeless populations can’t reside within 500 feet of schools and other city facilities, according to a July 29 southern California based organization Spectrum News 1 article.
It's likely we’ll be seeing similar initiatives being passed in the coming years to make sure Los Angeles looks desirable for the games.
There are more than 60,000 homeless people in Los Angeles, according to a March 19 ABC7 News article, and it appears the local government is willing to do anything to ensure they remain invisible.
Countries must place their egos aside and put their own people first before they overcommit to host the Olympic games merely for influence and power.
