Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Update (Day 12)
The games are a massive undertaking as it is one of the biggest sporting events in the world at any given point.
In the winter games, there are a total of 15 sports with multiple disciplines in almost every one of them adding up to a massive amount of events.
Putting on all of those vents can be a challenge and doing it all on event space that is sure to take a beating is even tougher.
To do all of this the organizing committee of every Olympic games has to invest a lot of money to make sure everything runs smoothly.
These are not events that can just be run on sub-par facilities with sub-par conditions, this is the Olympics where everything it supposed to be the best.
It is no question that the standards are high when the best athletes in the world come to compete against the best.
Everyone involved wants the conditions to play as little a part as they can, leaving the competition up to the better athlete on the day.
So to get to that level organizers need to bring in the best from around the world to work on the slopes and the ice and everything in between.
To do that the organizers need to pay the best what they’re worth and that can lead to skyrocketing costs.
Along with hiring the best they have to build facilities that can rival the best in the world and organize cultural events.
That has cost many organizing committees a lot of money over the past few decades and some have yet to recover.
Famously the Montreal Olympics in 1976 lost a total of $990 million which was only paid off in 2006.
There have been mixed results for the games as some games actually made a little bit of money while others have lost a lot of money.
The IOC continues to try to encourage bids that are more realistic when it comes to cost and what the organizers can recoup.
One of the big ways that these games can recoup their costs are through ticket sales for the many events that they hold throughout the games.
They won’t be the solution as costs have climbed to well over $1 billion regularly throughout the years.
It will help though as there are many events and a lot of tickets to sell which can help to offset the cost of many things.
That is the other challenge though as selling tickets to these games can be challenging simply for the fact that there are so many events.
Not only are there a massive number of events but depending on the area that the games are in there are any number of events with little to no interest from locals.
That is where most of the tickets need to be sold as there are plenty of sports tourists heading to the games to catch a few events and be a part of the environment but they are not the majority.
In Pyeongchang, the South Koreans need to come out and have an interest if they hope to sell out most of their tickets.
In Korea, the major sports that the Olympics usually rely upon to do great in ticket sales are not necessarily the sports that Koreans are massive fans of.
Sports like the hockey tournament or the figure skating are not going to be the massive pulls that they are almost everywhere else.
Of course, the Koreans do have their favourites including short track speed skating which has been packed with Korean fans throughout the games.
The rest of the games have reportedly been pretty empty even if those attending have put on their best voice when cheering on teams.
The organizers have explained that issues with travel and the cold weather have kept a lot of people away.
They report that 90% of tickets have been sold but not everyone is making it to the events either because they can’t get there or it is too cold, the weather has been unusually cold.
If they have sold 90% of the tickets they are on their way to a good amount coming back to them but if the stands are the indication of how much they are getting back it might not be great.
After the games is the time where everyone reflects on the amazing chance so many people received and the great stories.
What is missed until a few years later is just how much the games made or lost and what that means for the city that put in the time, money and effort to host the games.
The Pyeongchang games hope to follow the recent trend of making money but with the stands empty the prospects could be iffy for the games.
The Canadian Story:
Racing to the Top
He wasn’t necessarily the one that many thought was going to take a medal as Brady Leman was expected to do well but Chris Del Bosco was a medal favourite. That was until Del Bosco crashed in a serious incident earlier, although he is in stable condition, which eliminated one medal hopeful. Leman picked the team up though and made it to the final race leading the entire way to earn a gold medal after finishing fourth in Sochi.
Humphries Climbs Back
After her first two runs the two-time defending Olympic champion, Kailie Humphries left herself a lot of work to get back to the medals. After finished fifth after two runs, she had to climb back to earn her third straight medal. It might not have been the gold that she was looking for but the battle back was a great one as she climbed to third place to earn a bronze.
Out in the Olympics
Since curling was added to the Olympic program the Canadians have been pretty dominant medalling in every games for both men and women. That streak has come to an end in Pyeongchang though as Rachel Homan’s rink struggled throughout the tournament. After putting together one of the best seasons in curling history she couldn’t figure it out at the Olympics and saw her rink eliminated from the playoffs making it the first games where the Canadian women will not medal.
Moving On
The hockey tournament is proving to be one of the more unpredictable events in the games and the trend continued in the quarter-finals. The Americans and the Swedes both took losses to the Czech Republic and Germany respectively. The Canadians avoided a similar upset beating the Finns 1-0 to move into the semi-finals guaranteeing they will play for a medal. Now they look to make that a silver or gold as they take on the Germans in the semis.
The Sport Addiction 