1. People from all over the world live in one village, Olympic Village. About 203 countries put up teams in the village at each Olympic Games.
2. Seems like it’d call for some bad run-ins, right? Wrong. Turns out Olympic athletes are pretty loving. So loving that the 2000 Sydney Olympic village ran out of its 70,000 condoms and had to call in 20,000 more. Sounds pretty peaceful. My face when I heard this
3. All athletes stay in the same conditions… including toilets that won’t flush and some strange bugs. Should keep Americans’ feet on the ground and humble everyone involved.
4. The citizens of the hosting city and neighboring areas have the opportunity to witness and interact with elite athletes from all over the world at the mega event. It’s magical to most.
5. It’s a happy event. Joe Bailey, a longtime sports executive who is in charge of industry recruiting at RPR Partners, explained it clearly: “Historically, a big event like this causes a lot of people to see that community in a more positive light. And the community thinks more of itself.” Win-win.
6. M-O-N-E-Y. Since the 2002 Winter Games, Salt Lake City’s ski industry has grown from $740 million to $1.2 billion.
7. There is so much to learn about these athletes from all over the world; there’s some incredible, tear-jerking journeys. These are just a few: http://www.olympics30.com.
8. Viewers end up rooting for people they didn’t even know existed just the week before. So many Olympic athletes are subjects of this.
9. The pride each athlete, coach, and fan expresses for their country is unifying. The painted bodies, waving flags, and street chants are pretty majestic. Can’t hate on each other for loving our homes.
10. Last but certainly not least, it’s not as perfect as it seems, and sometimes that’s funny. The Global Village in Russia’s Winter Games knows all too much about this. Here’s some funny experiences: “Yellow water, weird toilets and more problems at Sochi Olympics”
Sources: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/news/london-2012-shiny-happy-olympic-village-people-7953504.html
http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomvanriper/2012/08/08/how-the-london-olympics-will-recoup-its-costs-happiness/
http://www.olympics30.com
http://www.olympic.org/ancient-olympic-games
http://www.indystar.com/story/sports/2014/02/05/sochi-olympics-issues-troubles-problems-water-yellow-bees-honey-toilets/5235451/
