The Olympics - Why It Should End

The once sacred event of the Olympics is now anything but dignified. Though it is still a somewhat respectable event, it is only a shell of its former self. No longer do athletes compete with honour, instead preferring to win at any costs. Cheating, which was once seen as even worse than losing, is now part of the routine for most of today's athletes. What was once seen as a place for honourable men to fight is now a political pawn for whoever feels like playing a little game of international politics. The reason the world's finest gather is not that every nation's pride is at stake anymore; the reason they compete is merely to make money. The Olympics are but a corpse of its former self, being moved like a puppet by those who wish to hide its death. It is time we let the Olympics rest in peace.
Athlete Tamsyn Lewis stated back in 2008 that it is almost impossible for her or any honest athlete to win due to how frequent the use of drugs that enhance an athlete's ability is(Wilson). What is shocking is that some of the involved accused her of being a coward because of what she said. Is wanting a fair duel against your opponent being a coward? Cheating is a rather frequent occurrence during the Olympics, and it takes various shapes and forms. China took it one step further and got underage athletes to compete in gymnastics("Hacker Uncovers Proof Chinese Gymnast Is Underage"). Once a competition becomes about who gets away with cheating the most rather than who is truly the best, it no longer has any value for anyone.
The Beijing Olympics received more attention for being in Beijing than for being the Olympics. It was not an event about pride and fair competition. It was an event about China trying to prove their status as a fair and honest country. While no one can argue how entertaining it was to watch China fail miserably at pretending to be fair and honest while making a little girl lip synch to another little girl, the fact is that the Olympics should not be...