With the opening ceremonies now over the 2016 Summer Olympics are finally underway.
I have been closely following the lead up to the games and have been very pessimistic regarding the success of these games. That was until I saw the opening ceremonies on Aug. 5.
While they were not the best or most extravagant opening ceremonies I have ever seen, it left me with something. They went off without a hitch.
There has been so much bad publicity and negative comments towards the game over the past year that it always seemed like they were destined to fail. And I will admit I was right in the middle of all the negativity. And there are lots of things to be negative about.
The water quality is not good, the athletes villages are not finished, the Zika Virus is a real threat, several top athletes are not going, ticket sales are poor, the economy in Brazil is struggling, and the Brazilian Government is being investigated for impeachment charges, just to name a few.
But the negativity towards the Olympics is always there, maybe not to the same extent but there are always concerns leading into the games and those concerns rarely equate to much.
In Sochi everyone was worried about the stray dogs, security was a concern for the last Summer Olympics in London, Vancouver had ticket sale issues and the death of an athlete while training just days before the opening ceremonies, in Beijing air quality and security were concerns, I could keep going but I am sure you get the idea.
For whatever reason we take something that is supposed to be pure and fun and we make it so negative in the lead up. And most of the time we are wrong. And we will be this time too.
The Olympics are a wonderful opportunity for nations to get together and feel pride for being from a certain country and to forget about the issues we might have with another country.
We are captivated by the efforts of our athletes and we should be. They work hard for most of their lives to get to the Olympic stage, mostly for themselves but also to represent their country and they are so proud of that opportunity.
We have been captivated by moments during the Olympics from Joannie Rochette’s bronze medal in Vancouver days after the passing of her mother to Perdita Felicien’s fall during the 100m hurdles at the 2004 games where she was heavily favoured to win gold and everything in between.
The Olympics provide us with opportunities to remember moments from various sports and to watch sports that we might not otherwise watch. And this year will be no different.
What those moments and memories are I am not sure, they usually come from unexpected places but I know they will come.
So for all those people who have been down on the games for so long, get up.
Let us look at the positives and take some time to forget about all the negatives surrounding the country of Brazil from a government stand point because there is enough negativity in the world already.
Fill yourselves with national pride and positivity. I know I will be.
