Rant: Why Tennis Should Stay Out of the Olympics

To me, the Olympics are a hallowed event. The track and field, swimming, gymnastics, and diving are spectacular. At the last Olympics, my favorite moment was watching Amit Elor win gold for the US in wrestling. I loved watching the volleyball and the triathlon. And as I do every Olympics, I took it all in. But I also took exception to the presence of a handful of other sports, namely tennis, basketball, soccer, and golf. Although these sports are among my favorite to play and watch (I don’t watch or play golf), I believe their presence at the Olympics diminishes the spotlight that other athletes deserve and undermines the purity of the whole event.

Of course, some of the sports at the Olympics are exceedingly niche. Sports like shooting, archery, race-walking, speed climbing, and others would be boring to watch if we had to watch them all the time. But we don’t, and we should enjoy the novelty of them and recognize the discipline and passion these athletes must have for their unique choices. In fact, there are many athletes that are so disciplined and passionate that they have to work day jobs to pay for training and a shot at their dream. If they’re lucky, they’ll get a moment every four years for brief international recognition and a small payout from their national Olympic committee. These small revenue athletes compete for the sake of competition and the love of their sport. Most of them will get one chance in a lifetime at Olympic glory, and they should bask in it before they have to return to a relatively ordinary civilian life.

Unfortunately, while these unsung heroes should be enjoying their overdue praises, athletes that enjoy the spoils of billion-dollar sports leagues and year round coverage are filling the adjacent stadiums. Now, I understand that mainstream sports drive revenues for the Olympics, and I also understand that some of the athletes in these big market sports dream of representing their countries. But they don’t need the Olympics the way other athletes need it. They obviously don’t need it for the money, and they already represent their country on a massive scale in their respective leagues and international federations.

So let’s be honest: the main reason big league athletes are in the Olympics is to satisfy their own egos. And is Lebron James satisfied when no one remembers his compatriots that won gold medals because they were too busy watching the USA predictably thrash every other country? Is Novak Djokovic, whose career prize money tops $185 million, satisfied when he wins a tournament that is hardly different from the other events on the tennis tour? In fact, the tennis at this year’s Olympics was played at Roland Garros with more or less the same field of players.

The most enjoyable aspect of the Olympics is learning about the athletes and sports that the mainstream enthusiast wrongfully ignores for 3 years and 11 months out of 4 years. Some things should remain pure, and bringing celebrity athletes to the Olympics ruins the whole thing. If they won’t get rid of it, then the least I can do is not watch it. Then, to make me really happy, they can also get rid of about 50% of the swimming events.