The Olympic Games: A Spectacle of Selective Inclusivity and Medal Hoarding

 

The Olympic Games: A Spectacle of Selective Inclusivity and Medal Hoarding

The Olympic Medal Hoarding

 

I recently tuned into a mixed-gender relay race at the Olympics, expecting the usual thrill of competition. What I witnessed was far more entertaining—a classic case of women carrying the team. The American and Dutch female athletes ran circles around their male counterparts, almost winning the gold for the USA and clinching it for the Netherlands. It's not every day you see women outperforming men in a supposedly 'mixed' event, but hey, they were just competing with the men, not against them, right?

But let’s not get too excited about this progressive display. The real takeaway here isn't just the performance—it’s the Olympic Committee's delightful habit of concocting new events to boost medal counts for a select few countries. I mean, why not create a bunch of new sports categories if it means more shiny medals for certain nations? Of course, this comes at the expense of ignoring sports that have massive followings in South Asia. Cricket, anyone? Oh, but wait—it's not popular enough in the right parts of the world. If only cricket were played in the U.S. or across Europe (beyond England), it would've been an Olympic sport ages ago. But alas, here we are, watching synchronized swimming and debating whether Kabaddi could ever get a spot.

And speaking of synchronized swimming, how many different swimming events do we need? I’ve lost count. The Olympic Committee has found every possible way to hand out medals in the pool. Why not introduce a synchronized doggy paddle while we're at it? There's nothing quite like watching athletes rack up medals like they're collecting Pokémon. One gold medal to prove you're the best? Nah, how about eight? Nothing says "I'm the greatest" like having a bunch of identical medals for slightly different strokes.

Maybe it's time we rethink this whole setup. How about limiting athletes to one sport? That way, we could see a diverse range of sports and athletes, instead of the usual suspects hogging the spotlight. It would also make watching the Olympics less of a chore. Imagine flipping channels between volleyball, football, field hockey, and basketball, without the constant detours into obscure, medal-rich events. Now that would be fun.

Team sports, in particular, should get more love. They're not just entertaining—they actually promote teamwork and athleticism. But no, we get an overabundance of individual events because apparently, nothing beats the thrill of one person taking home a small mountain of medals. Meanwhile, sports that millions love, like Rugby and Kabaddi, are left out in the cold.

In the end, the Olympics have become less about a global celebration of sport and more about a medal tally for certain countries. It’s a great platform for the usual suspects to flaunt their superiority. Maybe one day, the Olympic Committee will wake up and smell the diversity, giving other sports and athletes the recognition they deserve. Until then, we’ll just keep pretending that synchronized swimming is as globally relevant as cricket.

Comments

  1. AnonymousAugust 4, 2024 at 10:41 AM

    This article brings up an interesting perspective on the Olympics and the proliferation of events. The point about selective inclusivity and the exclusion of popular sports like cricket is well taken. It’s true that the Olympic Committee seems to favor sports that are popular in certain regions, often overlooking globally loved sports.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousAugust 4, 2024 at 1:56 PM

      Thank you for your review. I appreciate your perspective and understand that many people see golf as a pastime rather than a sport. However, its inclusion in the Olympics reflects a broader debate about what constitutes a sport and how decisions are made by the Olympic committee. It's interesting to see how different activities are perceived and valued, and this topic certainly sparks further discussion about the nature of sports and inclusivity in international competitions.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How We Turned an Abstract God into Concrete Hate

Image
  How We Turned an Abstract God into Concrete Hate Hindi Version: https://rakeshinsightfulgaze.blogspot.com/2025/12/blog-post_12.html God was never meant to be owned. In its earliest human understanding, God was abstract, unknowable, and undefined. People did not claim certainty over it. They sensed it in nature, in conscience, in fear, wonder, and humility. Worship had no walls. It happened under open skies, near rivers, in forests, and in silence. Spirituality was personal, inward, and restrained by doubt. Everything broke the moment humans tried to contain the abstract. The moment God was locked inside stone, gold, and spectacle, spirituality was replaced by religion. And once religion took physical form, it demanded control. Someone had to manage God. Interpret God. Defend God. Faith stopped being a personal search and became a collective identity. Identity demanded loyalty. Loyalty demanded enemies. This is where belief became power. At some point, humanity reached an abs...
Read more

Distraction as Governance: How a Scripted National Song Debate Shielded the SIR Controversy

Image
  Distraction as Governance: How a Scripted National Song Debate Shielded the SIR Controversy Watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5jj6tmNYs20 Hindi Version: https://rakeshinsightfulgaze.blogspot.com/2025/12/sir_11.html Two days ago, India witnessed a moment that will not be remembered for what Parliament accomplished, but for how deliberately it avoided its responsibilities. Ten hours were spent debating Vande Mataram and reminiscing about 150 old songs, not because Parliament had run out of issues, but because the ruling party needed a distraction. Crucially, this spectacle unfolded just before the scheduled national debate on the Special Summary Revision, a process already mired in allegations of mass voter deletions and electoral manipulation. Seen in context, the timing was not random. It was strategic. It was engineered. The BJP leadership understood that the SIR debate could expose disturbing patterns: unexplained deletions, duplicate voter entries, unexplai...
Read more

Superstitions: Where Do They Come From, and Why Do People Believe in Them?

Image
  Superstitions: Where Do They Come From, and Why Do People Believe in Them? Hindi Version: https://rakeshinsightfulgaze.blogspot.com/2025/12/blog-post_14.html When undesirable events occur in our lives, our natural response is to look for reasons. We try to identify causes so we can avoid repeating the same outcomes. Often, this process is logical and helpful. We learn, adapt, and move forward. But this search for meaning does not always lead us to accurate conclusions. Sometimes, instead of identifying real causes, we attach significance to unrelated details. A coincidence becomes an explanation. A single occurrence becomes a pattern. When this happens, superstition begins to take shape. One of the most striking aspects of superstition is how little evidence it requires. A single event is often enough. If something good happens while a certain object is present, or something bad follows a particular action, the mind quickly connects the two. No repeated testing is needed...
Read more