At this point, news that the current Olympics is a disaster for someone or other is less a “revelation” and more a “well, duh.” When Chicago lost their bid a few years ago, it was one of the best things that coudl have happened to that blighted burg; being saddled with the infrastructure that, after the games, nobody wants to use or maintain would be just another nightmare. And the Rio games continue to just pile on.
So, how to fix this? A few ideas occur. The first: cancel the Olympics. Let’s face it: the idea of athleticism seems to have had its day. Doping, genetic manipulation and cybernetics, never mind outright pure robotics, make a joke of the idea of human physical excellence through nothing but grit and will. Maybe replace track and field with a “Call of Duty” contest?
But assuming we want to continue the Olympics… pick a spot. Stay there. The idea of roving Olympics was cool for a while, but it is now clear that it’s a disaster. So… let’s say we go back to the Athens Olympic arenas. Fix them up. Make them the *permanent* home of the Olympics. We have this thing called “television” now, so the games can be broadcast to the entire world in 4K resolution.
This would save untold billions in wasted construction costs around the world. By having a single fixed emplacement, maintenance over time would be made much more efficient. By having a single site, the local economy would actually get a regular boost, and shouldn’t suffer the collapse that seems to inevitably follow the games packing up and leaving. I suspect the money currently being spent by cities around the world just in lobbying and bribery in order to get the Olympics to come to town would pay for the maintenance of a permanent Athens Olympic site.