Athletes are the only Australians today that are paid while honing their skills, although I do realise that some of the more obscure sports receive very little, if any, funding. Writers are not funded as they write novels or composers as they compose music. Student doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers and musicians all have to fund their own degrees; in fact they have to pay for the privilege of studying.

A total of $377 million for Rio alone. What if that money were used instead in a trickle-down effect to fund sporting equipment, sports facilities and coaches at the starting level of sports? We have an obesity and diabetes problem with children in Australia. Let’s get those children off their ipads and couches and onto the sporting field. That would really make a difference to thousands of children around Australia.

How should money be distributed when there is an ever shrinking pot from which to find that largesse?  John Coates, Australian representative on the IOC, admits the cost of the Olympics to the Australian people is closer to $800 million over four years. I am not about to divide that cost up into how many gold, silver or bronze medals we actually won, that would be churlish, but in terms of cost effectiveness, any business with those statistics would have folded long ago.

In the case of the Olympics, Amanda Vanstone’s idea of returning the Olympics to Greece, home of the original games, has merit. Countries could contribute to support Greece financially, building the infrastructure they require to coordinate the games every four years. This may also assist Greece to salvage itself from the economic mess they find themselves in today.

We have international competitions in all these sports. Medals won in these international competitions could, with a clever advertising campaign, replace the existing Olympic medals. Many of these athletes are repeating their races at the Olympics against the same competitors. Existing infrastructure would be used, eliminating the need for vast new complexes. National anthems could continue to be played.

There is a cruel irony when countries struggle to feed their own people and yet end up hosting the Olympics. We had China moving thousands of people off their land and homes which were razed to make way for new sporting facilities. In Rio, since 2009,  22,059 families have been forcibly removed from their homes in the favelas to prepare for the Olympic infrastructure. Land is at such a premium in Tokyo the same concerns may apply in that city as they prepare for the Olympics in 2020. It is the poorest that are impacted the most. Only major wealthy cities can afford the huge costs. 

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose (Ecclesiastes).” Perhaps it is time to rethink the Olympic Games and move to a different formula, simpler and more manageable, or simply make the yearly international competitions in each sport more newsworthy, thereby acknowledging successful athletes throughout each year rather than once every four. Athletes could still have their day in the sun but at much less cost to countries around the world.

ANNIE YOUNG