Rio games were manipulated

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U.S., U.K. instrumental in keeping Russia out

By Dr. Sawraj Singh

PV Sindhu won one of the few medals India got.

The just-concluded Rio Olympics failed to even win a Bronze medal in terms of fairness, sportsman spirit and promoting brotherhood and goodwill. It seems that the games were manipulated to boost the sagging morale of the U.S. and its closest ally, the U.K.

The U.S. suffered defeats in Ukraine, Syria and Turkey vis-a-vis Russia. Brexit showed that the U.K. has lost influence in Europe. Moreover, the Chilcot Report disclosure that Tony Blair lied about Iraq has really hurt the U.K.’s prestige and credibility.

The U.S. was desperate to score a major victory to boost its sagging morale as well as that of its closest friend. It needed a big win in Rio to give a booster dose to its ally, the U.K. The games were manipulated from earlier on.

The U.S. was instrumental in ousting the anti-U.S. President of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, and replacing her with a pro-American acting President Michel Temer. The other big move was to keep Russia away from the Olympics. Russia’s share of Olympics medals was usurped by the U.S. and the U.K.

Michael Phelps won multiple medals for the U.S.

This assured the U.S. of first place by a big margin and also brought the U.K. to second place.

If we analyze the results and the medal tally of the last four Olympics, then it becomes obvious that the results of the 2016 Olympics are out of line with the trends. If we look at the results of the 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympics, then it becomes clear that there are serious questions about the ranking of the U.K. team.

Similarly, the U.S. was never ahead with such a difference from the other countries in the number of medals as it was this time. The U.K. got maximum medals in the 2012 London Olympics. This was expected because the host country, due to home court advantage, gets 20%-25% more medals.

However, in the next Olympics, their medal count comes down to their usual number. This time, the U.K. team has obtained even more medals than the London Olympics. This is very unusual and has not happened before. Is the U.K. being rewarded for being the most faithful follower of America and as compensation for being kicked out of the European Union?

2000 Sydney Olympics Total Medal Count                 2004 Athens Olympics Total Medal Count

1.      U.S.A.                                       93                               1.   U.S.A.                               101

2.      Russia                                     89                               2.   China                                63

3.      China                                        58                               3.   Russia                             90

4.      Australia                                  58                               4.   Australia                          50

5.      Germany                                  56                               5.   Japan                               37

10.    U.K                                            28                               10. U.K.                                  30

2008 Beijing Olympics Total Medal Count                 2012 London Olympics Total Medal Count

1.      China                     100                                          1.   U.S.A.                     104

2.      U.S.A.                     110                                          2.   China                     88

3.      Russia                    71                                           3.   Russia                    82

4.      U.K.                         47                                           4.   U.K.                        65

5.      Germany                41                                           5.   Germany                 44

2016 Rio Olympics Total Medal Count

1.      U.S.A.                     121

2.      U.K.                        67

3.      China                     70

4.      Russia                    56

5.      Germany               42

(Olympics rankings are based upon gold medals and not on total medals).

The Russian doping scandal shows how low the western countries can stoop. The drug problem in athletes is not confined to Russia. Russia was singled out for political reasons as well as economic gains. America and the western countries wanted to punish Russia. They also wanted to usurp Russia’s share of medals. Every medal is seen by them as a potential marketable commodity from which someone will make money.

For example, each gold medal in America is worth millions of dollars in terms of advertisements. Therefore, the motivation to keep Russia out was partly political revenge and partly pure greed. The Russian team was curtailed, wounded and the track and field team was completely kept out.

During the Olympics, the true Olympic spirit was mostly missing. There were many protests against holding the games because the country spent too much money on the Olympics without getting much in return. Many tickets were unsold and many seats were empty. There were protests against the acting President Temer for betraying and impeaching President Rousseff. He even stayed away from the closing ceremony.

The Russian athletes were booed. Yulia Efimova, a Russian swimmer and double silver medalist at Rio, was snubbed openly by the American swimmer who won the gold medal and was booed by the Americans in the audience. She was in tears and later described her experience to BBC as feeling like being in a war.

It was later found out that some American swimmers had vandalized public and private property and had completely made up a story of being victims of a robbery. These incidents tell us the kind of atmosphere prevailing in the games.

India’s performance raises many important questions. India is now the seventh largest economy of the world. The other six countries with the largest GDPs won medals roughly in proportion to their economy. India is the only country where there is a complete mismatch:

G.D.P.                          2016 Rio Olympics Medal Ranking

1.      USA                        1. USA

2.      China                     2. U.K.

3.      Japan                     3. China

4.      Germany               5. Germany

5.      U.K.                        6. Japan

6.      France                   7. France

7.      India                      67. India

India, the seventh largest economy, got 67th place in the medal count. India, with a population of about 16% of the world population, got less than 1% of the share of Olympic medals.

It is not India alone, but all countries of South Asia have done very poorly in the Rio Olympics. All other countries of the Indian subcontinent failed to even get a single medal. Compared to this, the other regions of Asia such as East Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia and West Asia, have done well in getting medals. Even the countries of Africa such as Kenya, South Africa and Ethiopia have won significant medals.

It is a very complex issue why the people of the Indian subcontinent do not do well in the Olympics. These people are doing very well in other fields like academics, economics and politics. For example, people of Indian descent are doing very well in these fields in North America. They lead in home ownership, college graduation and per capita income; and they are well represented in politics.

The Rio results should stimulate us for finding out ways to improve our performance in Tokyo.

Sawraj Singh M.D. F.I.C.S.

Chairman, Washington State Network for Human Rights

Chairman, Central Washington Coalition for Social Justice