The Games Will Go On

As we hit the two-year-to-go mark until Pyeongchang 2018, it's less than six months until the Rio Olympics.  But all anyone can talk about is the Zika virus and how it's unsafe to go to Brazil right now.  There are even calls for the Olympics to be moved or cancelled.  What no one seems to realize is that we're way beyond the point where that would be an option.

I saw a Forbes article that made the whole "the Olympics should be cancelled" argument.  The ironic thing is that Forbes is a money magazine, yet they refused to look at the financial implications of why such a decision is impractical and impossible.  It's because of money that the Rio Olympics will go on as scheduled.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not making light of the Zika virus or any of the health concerns that people rightfully have.  Hope Solo, in fact, said that if she had a choice about going to the Olympics right now, she probably wouldn't go, primarily for health reasons.  That's her choice, and I don't want to downplay the threat that Zika poses.  But we have no way of knowing what things will be like in August.  For all we know, the crisis will be settled by then.  It's also worth keeping in mind that August is the Brazilian winter, when there are fewer mosquitoes.

Again, I'm not saying Zika shouldn't be taken seriously.  If people have legitimate concerns about their health and decide not to travel to Brazil as a result, that's a perfectly justifiable stance to take.  The World Health Organization and IOC are monitoring the situation, as is the Rio Organizing Committee, and all of sports federations are aware of what's going on, as well.  While it's impossible to say that traveling to Rio will be completely safe come August, you can bet these organizations will do everything in their power to make sure those who do make the trip to Brazil for the Olympics (which is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for most people) will be able to do so safely.

This is the latest black mark against Rio leading up to these Olympics.  When Rio was award the Games in 2009, Brazil was thriving economically.  Now the country is mired in recession (paying for both a World Cup and an Olympics probably didn't help) and has already had to drastically reduce spending.  There's also the polluted water in the sailing and rowing venues that Olympic organizers have vowed to clean up, yet still haven't, and are now pretty much out of time to do so.

But cancelling or moving the Olympics isn't the answer.  I forget who it was that said it, but the quote I saw regarding a possible cancellation was "only war has done that."  Likewise, it's impractical/logistically impossible to move the Olympics at this point.  Not with the amount of preparation Brazil has put in and the amount of money that's been spent over the last six-and-a-half years.

Rio's Olympic organizers have spent billions of dollars getting ready for the Games.  If they were to cancel the Olympics, though, it would cost billions more.  The IOC has a reserve fund (which runs into the billions) that serves to cover the Olympic Movement in the event an Olympics is cancelled.  That would be gone, too.  And that money would all go to legal fees.  Because there would be more than a few lawsuits stemming from a cancelled Olympics.  They've already started selling tickets, too, so they'd lose all of that revenue if they had to start issuing refunds, further putting a strain on the budget.

There are so many parties involved in putting on an Olympics.  You have the local organizing committee in the host country, the IOC, all of the international sporting federations, the sponsors.  Not to mention the broadcast partners.  Try telling NBC that it shelled out all this money to broadcast an Olympics that isn't going to happen, and they now have to find hours upon hours of replacement programming that won't come anywhere near the ratings an Olympics would deliver.

Most significantly, it would be incredibly unfair to the athletes.  The Olympics only come around once every four years.  These athletes have dedicated their lives for their shot at Olympic glory.  For some, Rio might be the last chance (or the only chance).  What are you gonna tell them when they find out their years of training were for nothing?  Sorry?

While there's every reason for people to be concerned about the Zika virus, cancelling or moving the Olympics is not the solution.  And those who think they should be are being incredibly short-sighted.  There's a lot more to consider, which is why the Games will go on.

The Rio Olympics will not and should not be cancelled or moved.  The torch will be lit as scheduled in the Maracana on August 5, and the attention will turn where it should--to the athletes and the competition.