The dawn of 2014 brought exciting changes like any other New Year, but Olympics fans were especially pumped− 2014 rang in the Winter Olympics that took place in Sochi, Russia. From February 6th to February 23rd, athletes all around the world gathered to reveal the result of their last four years of intense training as fans everywhere watched from home.
Since 776 B.C., this competition of the best athletes around has grown, expanded, and transformed from a local Greek contest into an international celebration of countries coming together in good-natured rivalry and peaceful coexistence. The Olympics has long been a symbol of international unity and brotherhood, a few weeks in which bad relations are temporarily put aside in favor of peace. However, the games are not the games without bitter competition, so televisions everywhere will tune in for the excitement.
Overall, most Ridge students and faculty agreed that the Olympics were an event they would be tuning into.
Eliza Engelsman ’15, a member of the Ridge High School Ski Team, names “skiing, ski jumping, and figure skating” as her favorite events, while Jeffrey Zhao ’14 prefers “ski jumping, because the heights that the skiers reach are impossibly, ridiculously high.”
Mr. Steven Richards, Technology Education teacher, favors “short track speed skating.” It seems that the fast-paced, exciting events are among the most popular at Ridge.
When asked whether the Olympics or Superbowl is more interesting, answers varied depending on interest in football.
Zhao insists that the “Superbowl is not only football, but also a social event. It’s a time when people can have fun, yell at the TV screen, and eat good food.” A lot of Americans value football as a sacred sport and our love of the Superbowl, along with its parties and food traditions, is ingrained in our history. However, people not as interested in football love the Olympics for its variety of events and diverse atmosphere.
Engelsman comments that “in the Olympics, there’s an event for everyone, which makes it so great to watch.” This year, people were able to choose to watch events from curling to skeleton to even ladies’ ski jumping, an event that was newly added for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
However, the location of this year’s games has caused controversy in the media and on the Web. According to The Telegraph, the Sochi Olympics cost 31 billion euros to prepare, an amount exceeding the costs of all previous winter Olympics combined. This exorbitant price tag was caused by the innumerable scams and embezzlements by a group of businessmen associated with President Vladimir Putin. In addition, terrorist threats loomed over the good cheer of Olympics season, putting a damper on the usual enthusiasm. Olympics officials stated that their security was prepared for any terrorist attempts, but Jeff Zhao ’14 shrewdly remarks that “even if they weren’t close to having enough security, they would tell the media they are ready; revealing their unpreparedness would decrease profits.”
However, the location brings some good news too. This was the first Olympics in Russia since the USSR collapsed in 1991, a reason to honor Russia and finally celebrate its new status.
Mr. Steven Richards also comments that “this Olympics may provide an opportunity for the rest to improve relations with Russia.”