Sochi, Russia: the town name that nobody is quite sure how to pronounce. Is it So-long O-chi? So-short O-chi? Does the chi sound like chi-de or more like key? It's all very confusing. Oh, and then there's that whole thing where Russia seems completely and openly averse to homosexuality and LGBT culture in general, which is considerably problematic when many of the athletes participating in the games either identify as LGBT or know someone close to them who does. Furthermore, the Olympics is a global event that invites all nations to unite in friendly competition, and it is decidedly discriminate to include only countries' straight athletes. But of course, Sochi and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin did not uninvite the homosexual athletes of the world; rather, they would just make it known that these athletes are not whole heartedly welcome.
When a visiting reporter recently asked the mayor of Sochi how these anti-gay attitudes affect the homosexual community in Sochi, the mayor replied "There are no gay people here", to which the reporter bluntly replied, "I went to a local gay bar last night." The choice to be ignorant is of course open to each person individually, but that choice reaps serious consequences when professed and promoted on the global stage at an event as publicized as this. Since the anti-gay mentality of such influential Russian leaders has come into the media light, many people have decided or strongly considered boycotting the Olympics in support of the LGBT community.
The scandals have been continuing to mount though, as in the last week leading up to the start of the games Sochi has also been sited as guilty of animal cruelty. Several stray dogs were seen wandering, starving and sickly, around various Olympic arenas, and when asked about why the city has not made more of an effort to find homes or shelters for the poor animals, Sochi officials' responses were equivalent to an elusive "what dogs?" Disturbing rumours are also circulating that the dogs are being merely "disposed of" and I shudder to even think on what that could mean. A nation that so blatantly ignores the needs of suffering creatures does not exactly present the best front for an event whose purpose is to promote global talent and capability.
So what does a Winter Olympic and sports fan, like myself, do in this situation? Do I take the road of so many in boycotting the games altogether? I feel like there's yet another side to consider.
The athletes...what about the athletes? These men and women who have trained ridiculously hard all of their lives in the hope that one day they might represent their country on the global stage of the Olympics. They who represent the best the world has to offer in competition, and had no say in what country hosted the games or what that country's politics might be. Those athletes who, unlike the NHL's hockey players, wait four years at a time to show the world what they can do. Are we to abandon them so nonchalantly? There's that pesky Canadian spirit inside me again that says no. Because the Olympics are not just about the host nation and what they might do right or wrong in such a position. It's about the hard working participants who come to seek national glory and pay their patriotic due in making their country proud. And they deserve an audience. If for nothing else, to show the power and determination of those countries who value the rights of all people and animals, whose politics aim to be far from ignorance and discrimination, and watch those countries crush the ones who still abide by hatred and inequality: a competitive triumph and a symbolic one.
Do I fault people who choose to avoid the Olympic Games this winter? Not at all. But I for one will be watching. Why? Because of Canadian athletes, Canadian sportsmanship, Canadian patriotism, Canadian politics, Canadian equality. They deserve it.
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