I recently heard a news report via 680 news radio station and it was upsetting to hear the number of bloggers and new agencies who felt that the Olympics were a big failure. From the beginning I want to separate the issue of the death of Luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili of Georgia. My heart goes out to his family and if any agency had a part in his death I hope they will be made responsible.
This article is in response to those questioning the way in which the games are being administered. And I can't help but come to the defense of Vancouver (even hailing from the Toronto area). I think the judgement is incredibly unfair, as most of the trouble with the games thus far have related to weather. I was impressed that events that were cancelled due to weather were rescheduled and held within two days of their original date and that measures were in place to truck in additional snow.
It's very easy to pick every single point of loss from an onlookers perspective and brand the Van2010 olympics a failure, but I ask that you first consider the achievements of the games. This is the first Olympics to invest in measures to keep the games as green as possible. Yes, that led to delays with the green zamboni malfunction, but when is innovation ever seamless at the start? I was impressed at the thought that went into the green efforts, even down to the flowers awarded to winners. Attention was paid to select bouquets that contained fauna native to the region, the bouquets were all packed in recycleable and reusable packaging, and they were assembled by troubled/battered women via a special program.
So far I've yet to see any complaints on the fairness of judging (as we have seen in past Olympics), all our talented artists were celebrated and given a great degree of artistic liberty during the opening ceremonies. And isn't it great that we live in a country where you are free to protest (peacefully) and not swept under the rug, as would happen in many other nations, should they be faced with the same issues.
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