Games Must Go On

Much has been written and reported in recent months by the media about Rio’s challenges and its preparedness to host this summer’s Olympic Games.  Economic meltdown producing Brazil’s worst recession since the 1930s.  Check.  Government rife with political corruption, resulting in President Dilma Rousseff’s suspension and impeachment.  Check.  Contaminated waters that will rival Beijing’s air quality for the title of most-polluted Olympics.  Check.  Zika.  Check.  Unfinished venues and Metro Line 4.  Check and check.  But truth be told, every Olympics is plagued by some level of controversy, naysayers, and predictions of doom.  And yet, once the torch is lit at Opening Ceremonies, every Olympics manages to pull through to the end, a scant 17 days later.  In the immortal words of then IOC President Avery Brundage following the terrorist attack that killed 11 Israeli athletes and coaches at the 1972 Munich Olympics, “The Games must go on.”  So, too, will the Rio Olympics, despite all its hardships and heartaches.  Our students will be in a unique position to observe, first hand, how a city and its organizing committee manages these problems and whether it will emerge on the other side with its image enhanced and reputation intact . . . or not.