Question

What role do you think the olympic games play today in shaping cultural identity?

Answer 1

The outcome and the individual successes of countries around the world in the Olympic Games shaped cultural identity by determining essentially "who's top dog." In the same way that success in sports and even chess was so critical to a country's self image between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. during the cold war, a countries success in olympic games bears a similar role. The countries who cannot compete are generally forgotten, as is largely the case in global landscape, and the countries that can compete are largely treated as adversaries. The flip side of course is that the olympic games are an opportunity for the countries of the world to come together, unite, and compete in friendly competition. Unfortunately, this is not the case. For example, the U.S. and Russia both stack the odds of success in their favor by spending inordinate quantities of money on training and "supplements" for the purpose of securing gold medals and the perception from the world as being number one. The people of the U.S. feel that their country is the best in the world while a country like Quatar might feel a bit differently.