In the winter of 1980, New York State was the proud host of the Olympic Games.
Leprechaun Lines, a local bus company based in Newburgh, was offering day trips to the site. You could board a midnight bus at Delano Hitch Park for the trip up the Thruway and Adirondack Northway, watch the sunrise over a frozen Lake George, and be in the village of Lake Placid by daybreak. The package included tickets to two events. If you were lucky, you got to see Scott Hamilton take the ice in the brand-new rink that would also become the home for the famed “Miracle on Ice.”
Between events, you had the opportunity to wander through the streets of Lake Placid, like thousands of other tourists, browsing the shops, buying and trading Olympic pins and enjoying the local cuisine. By sunset, it was back on the bus for the trip home.
Despite its status as a world stage, Lake Placid - then and now - holds a small-town charm. It wasn’t hard to imagine a similar scene unfolding 48 years earlier when the town hosted the 1932 Winter Olympics. Even the venues held a small-town charm. The opening ceremonies were held at a small outdoor stadium built for equestrian events. (The Olympic cauldron remains there and is still lit on special occasions). Speed skating events took place at an outdoor oval in front of the high school.
The 2020 Summer Olympics (as they are still called) begin this weekend in Tokyo. They are in no way your father’s Olympics.
For starters, the costs, considered astronomical in 1980, are beyond staggering. The 1980 Lake Placid committee estimated the Games would cost $11 million, but the price tag was more than $132 million. The New York State Legislature agreed to pay off the debt in exchange for ownership of the ski jumps, the speed skating rink and the field house. It created the Olympic Regional Development Authority which also managed Whiteface Mountain and the bobsled run at Mt. Van Hoevenberg, along with the Gore Mountain Ski Area in North Creek, and Belleayre Mountain in the Catskills.
The Tokyo games, on the other hand, have a price tag of $26 billion, according to Wallethub.com. That includes some $900 million to be spent on Coronavirus countermeasures which don’t seem to be working. In all, Wallethub.com estimates that Japan will lose $15 billion on the games that approximately 80 percent of its own population wishes would be canceled or postponed again, as the pandemic continues to spiral out of control. Television rights will still account for some revenue, but a ban on all foreign spectators and a capacity limit of 50 percent for locals all hurt not only the bottom line, but hotels, restaurants and other businesses in the Tokyo region that were likely expecting a large payout.
As of Monday, at least four U.S. athletes - gymnast Kara Eaker, basketball players Katie Lou Samuelson and Bradley Beal and tennis star Coco Gauff - had tested positive and have pulled out of the games. There could be many more before the flame is finally extinguished on August 8.
The International Olympic Committee could learn a thing or two from the people who run interscholastic athletics in New York State. Aside from a few sports like basketball and wrestling, most athletes need not come into physical contact with their opponent. Most compete with a clock, against a previously recorded distance or to appease a panel of judges. This past year, many Section 9 athletes competed virtually. Swimmers and divers competed in their own school’s pool, then compared their times to those recorded in their opponent’s pool to determine the winner.
Gymnasts likewise competed in their own schools in front of independent, and unbiased judges.
It wouldn’t work for all sports. Some marathon courses, for example, are more challenging than others. But if the next generation of Usain Bolts and Michael Phelpes could compete without risking the health of their fellow athletes, or themselves, it could still be must see television.
Technology, and a little imagination, could get the games through the pandemic.