2006 Volume 14 Pages 9-14,117
In this paper I play devil's advocate and address the question as to whether it is worth continuing to conduct the Olympic Games. Specifically, I raise concerns about what I call the problematic moral validity, sporting validity, and pragmatic (economic) validity of the Games. I question the moral validity of the Games in terms of the processes of prolympism, globalization, totalization, and corruption associated with the Games. In turn, I suggest that the sporting validity of the Games is compromised by alternative world championships in most sports, the absence of many of the world's best athletes in a number of sports, and the potpouri of specific sporting venues of the games. And I question the pragmatic (economic) validity of the Games in terms of overall costs in general, and bidding costs, security costs, drug testing costs, and infrastructure costs in particular. In conclusion, I pose the question: “Are the Olympic Games worth the cost of economic and human capital?”