Not being someone who has done much but watch the occasional Olympic game and track the “medal count” in the paper, I guess I have to admit I really don’t think in depth about the Olympic Games. After doing a bit of looking around, it appears the Olympic Committee does not even officially recognize the overall medal count. So why do we put so much stock in them? My father-in-law, Peter Main, being a thinking man of retirement age, had some time to ponder the proceedings this year. As he watched the games and the medal tallies each night, he began feeling the traditional medal count is simply unfair.
In fact, Olympic gold medalist and longtime amateur sports advocate Donna de Varona says, “The medal count is not a good thing. Let’s look at how wealthy we are and what advantages we have. The (developing) countries don’t often win medals; so when they do it’s a surprise. When that happens, we should be focusing on that and celebrating that. Their struggle is always going to be much greater than ours. This is about the world. It’s not about us.”
During the Cold War, the medal counts had meaning because the Communist Bloc placed a high importance on sport within its culture. Back then the USA didn’t always come out on top and so the “fight” between the USA and the Communist Bloc was fought on the field.
Olympic wrestling gold medalist Jeff Blatnick agrees. “It was one thing back (in the days of the USSR and East Germany) because it was sort of a natural enemy thing. The idea is to judge how you’re doing as a nation within your sport, which is fine. But as a wrestler I never thought about the overall medal count. For an athlete, you’re wondering about how you’re doing, how your friends are doing, and how your teammates are doing. You’re not thinking about the medal count. I’ve been inspired by many international athletes, including people who never won a medal. I never looked at it from a macro point of view.”
