Talk:Olympic Games

Purpose

What exactly is the purpose of this article as it currently stands? Hobbitschuster (talk) 22:44, 10 July 2015 (UTC)

The cities list

What purpose exactly does it serve? Hobbitschuster (talk) 07:18, 20 March 2016 (UTC) Hobbitschuster (talk) 07:18, 20 March 2016 (UTC)

Not too much, but potentially people might want to visit old venues (I doubt it though). --Andrewssi2 (talk) 07:28, 20 March 2016 (UTC)

Visiting old venues is not so strange. The Olympiastadion in Berlin is a major landmark, to take one example. Ikan Kekek (talk) 10:59, 20 March 2016 (UTC)

I agree many old Olympic Games venues are popular attractions (the Olympic Stadium here in Helsinki is, too). Sometimes they have an interesting museum on the premises as well. ϒpsilon (talk) 11:33, 20 March 2016 (UTC)

True, I went to visit the Berlin Olympiastadion as well. Probably classify it as interesting architecture/history though... --Andrewssi2 (talk) 12:04, 20 March 2016 (UTC)

The Olympic Center at Lake Placid is still there, too, and I think people visit it for reasons other than architectural interest. Ikan Kekek (talk) 13:37, 20 March 2016 (UTC)

Well, that's all fine and well, but alone from the names of cities I don't know which Olympic facilities still exist and which don't. I have once heard that Munich 1972 is actually a pretty unique example of many Olympic venues still being in in use, whereas Athens 2004 is said to be mostly unused and/or decaying already... So just the cities will probably not do much good and can also be gotten from Wikipedia.. Hobbitschuster (talk) 16:35, 20 March 2016 (UTC)

If you don't like the list in its current form, please plunge forward and update it so that you think it is more useful. -- Ryan • (talk) • 16:39, 20 March 2016 (UTC)

(starting at the left again) well the problem is that to do that I would have to know stuff about the individual cities, and even in the cases of the cities on that list I probably know best (Munich and Berlin), my knowledge on the exact extant of "Olympic remnants" is limited at best... Hobbitschuster (talk) 13:47, 21 March 2016 (UTC)

I would also agree with an overhaul of this. It could just start off with the cities you know about and then let others grow the rest. --Andrewssi2 (talk) 21:52, 22 March 2016 (UTC)

Pages for Olympics

Swept in from the pub

So my students have settled on improving pages related to Pyeongchang 2018. Now, looking at pages like Rio 2016 or Sochi 2014, it does seem like they are rather poor. M\Something that struck me is the lack of consistency in the get in/around and eat/drink/buy sections. Rio has no Get in/around/eat/drink/sleep sections at all, and is a sad testatement to the fact that wiki projects rely heavily on someone caring - and clearly, nobody cared to even add pointers "see the Rio de Janeiro page. Sochi 2014 is better, but Get in simply states - read Sochi page. Get around does provide some useful information, through much less then the Sochi page. Still, I think it makes sense to discuss Olympics-only transportation at those pages, and keep regular one at the city pages. But eat and drink are again empty, and stay has a single hotel - once again, a far cry from the useful info at Sochi. Unsurpsingly, London_2012 is better, and can be used as a boilerplate for future events, with a number of generic stuff that should be copied into each future Olympics article. Once again, however, the buy/eat/drink/sleep sections are mostly empty; through I do note that two out of four paragraphs of sleep discuss Olympic specifics. In conclusion, I think that we should formalize some sort of event page guide, in particular - stress that they should only provide event specific info, and otherwise refer readers to pages about relevant cities. Buy, eat and drink and sleep sections shout be empty and probably deleted, and should never list individual locations, only discuss how the event information affects the city pages (see London 2012 last 2 paras for what I mean by that). With that in mind, I'd also propose inserting a standardized text into Pyeongchang 2018, Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 based on London 2012, i.e. "General information about traveling to/in/shopping locations/drinking/eating establishments/accommodation to/in Foo-placeappears in the Foo-place article." Sounds good? PS. One final thing - there seems to be an overlap between content in Prepare>Accommodations and Sleep sections. Not sure how to fix it, but we should not have two sections about essentially the same topic. --Hanyangprofessor2 (talk) 07:28, 26 September 2016 (UTC)

Yes, given that practically nobody of our current contributors seems to be knowledgeable about/interested in the Olympic games, the last few Olympics articles are next to useless (Vancouver 2010 is the last good Winter Olympics article). Great to see that we have some people onboard who'd like to help out with Pyeongchang 2018. By the way, contributions to our articles of other South Korean destinations would also be very welcome. ϒpsilon (talk) 08:14, 26 September 2016 (UTC)

I'm interested in the Olympics but not as much from a travel perspective and I've also been busy lately. WV just needs the number of contributors to grow. Otherwise there will always holes like this in the future. Gizza ^(roam) 09:11, 26 September 2016 (UTC)

Sport events?

I suppose that's how they say it in Britain, but it sounds very odd if not wrong to an American. How about "sporting events"? Would that fly in all dialects of English? Ikan Kekek (talk) 08:20, 24 February 2018 (UTC)

Original Olympics

Shouldn't there be some information in this article about the original Olympics in ancient Greece and a very brief mention of the impetus to revive the spirit and many of the sports from those Olympics in modern times? Ikan Kekek (talk) 08:10, 24 February 2018 (UTC)

By way of background, this is a direct quote from w:Olympic Games: Their creation was inspired by the ancient Olympic Games, which were held in Olympia, Greece, from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD. Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894, leading to the first modern Games in Athens in 1896. Even though we wouldn't want to directly quote all of that, I think it's grossly insufficient for our purposes in that travelers could well want to visit Olympia, Greece, so I think we also need to take some information from w:Ancient Olympic Games. Much of the introductory section of that article seems relevant:

The ancient Olympic Games were originally a festival, or celebration of and for Zeus; later, events such as a footrace, a javelin contest, and wrestling matches were added. The Olympic Games (Ancient Greek: Ὀλύμπια Olympia[1][2][3][4][5][6] "the Olympics"; also Ὀλυμπιάς Olympias[7][4][5][6] "the Olympiad") were a series of athletic competitions among representatives of city-states and one of the Panhellenic Games of ancient Greece. They were held in honor of Zeus, and the Greeks gave them a mythological origin. The first Olympics is traditionally dated to 776 BC.[8] They continued to be celebrated when Greece came under Roman rule, until the emperor Theodosius I suppressed them in AD 393 as part of the campaign to impose Christianity as the State religion of Rome. The games were held every four years, or olympiad, which became a unit of time in historical chronologies.

During the celebration of the games, an Olympic Truce was enacted so that athletes could travel from their cities to the games in safety. The prizes for the victors were olive leaf wreaths or crowns. The games became a political tool used by city-states to assert dominance over their rivals. Politicians would announce political alliances at the games, and in times of war, priests would offer sacrifices to the gods for victory. The games were also used to help spread Hellenistic culture throughout the Mediterranean. The Olympics also featured religious celebrations. The statue of Zeus at Olympia was counted as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Sculptors and poets would congregate each olympiad to display their works of art to would-be patrons.

The ancient Olympics had fewer events than the modern games, and only freeborn Greek men were allowed to participate,[9] although there were victorious women chariot owners. As long as they met the entrance criteria, athletes from any Greek city-state and kingdom were allowed to participate, although the Hellanodikai, the officials in charge, allowed king Alexander I of Macedon to participate in the games only after he had proven his Greek ancestry.[10][11] The games were always held at Olympia rather than moving between different locations as is the practice with the modern Olympic Games.[12] Victors at the Olympics were honored, and their feats chronicled for future generations.

I may work on editing this text myself, but I think some of this information should be summarized in this article, with a link to Olympia (Greece). That town should get at least the same kind of 1-liner listing the modern Olympic cities get. Ikan Kekek (talk) 08:20, 24 February 2018 (UTC)

At any rate the Olympia article needs work. It's for example not entirely clear which of any trains stop there and it links to a different website rather than mentioning any sights Hobbitschuster (talk) 14:14, 24 February 2018 (UTC)

Trivia

Although this is not the most relevant to people travelling to watch the Olympics, I remember that there is an 18th century opera called L'Olimpiade by Pietro Metastasio that was set during the ancient Olympics, which might highlight a renewed interest in the Olympics leading up to the modern Olympics. Ikan Kekek, since you're the resident expert on classical music, do you think this is trivia worth including? The dog2 (talk) 20:39, 13 March 2018 (UTC)

Probably not. Definitely nice trivia, though! Do you know the opera? Ikan Kekek (talk) 03:32, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

Not in detail, as I've only read the synopsis and heard excerpts of it. Metastasio was the librettist, and the first composer to set it to music was Antonio Caldara in 1733. Unfortunately, that version has not been recorded in its entirety, and only a few arias have been recorded, though to my knowledge, the entire score is extant. The only video recordings that exist are the settings by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi and Baldassare Galuppi, and there are complete audio recordings of the versions by Antonio Vivaldi and Josef Myslivecek. And I know there are recordings of a few arias from the versions by other composers such as Domenico Cimarosa, Leonardo Leo, Florian Leopold Gassmann, Giovanni Paisiello and others. The story is basically about a love triangle involving competitors at the Olympics. Of the arias I've heard, I'd say I like the ones by Pergolesi best. I might order the DVD some time in the near future so I can watch it in its entirety. The dog2 (talk) 05:12, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

Very cool. I think you know more about lesser-known operas than I do. :-) Ikan Kekek (talk) 05:53, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

New Ticketing model for 2024 onwards

The section "Getting tickets" will change after Beijing 2022 and will be the same for the rest of the decade. IOC announced back in June and confirmed at a recent ANOC conference that there will now be one global reseller of tickets, which will be On Location. This is compared to how it was done in the past, where each NOC would contract one hospitality reseller in that country with exclusive tickets and packages. Sources: Inside the Games, Ministry of Sport, SMH (Paid). Joshlama1 (talk) 07:11, 4 November 2021 (UTC)

We still tell about how tickets are distributed between the country-specific resellers. Does this one reseller have the tickets distributed between countries like before? How are you allocated to a specific country's shares? –LPfi (talk) 12:35, 21 December 2023 (UTC)

"Others"

Instead of trying to maintain an up-to-date list of games that are not the Olympics in this article, why don't we delete this list, and redirect readers to Spectator sports, which has a better list? Ground Zero (talk) 17:35, 10 August 2022 (UTC)

Agreed. SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta.wikimedia) 23:34, 10 August 2022 (UTC)

Done. Ground Zero (talk) 03:48, 7 September 2022 (UTC)

Prestige

I think we should have an explanation on the prestige, because it really does depend on sport. If you want to watch the best swimmers or runner in the world, then the Olympics is where you'll see them, and likewise with some other more obscure sports like badminton and table tennis. But if you want to see the best tennis players in the world, then the Grand Slams are where you will see them. Some of the best tennis players do go to the Olympics, but many choose to skip it because it is the Grand Slams, in particular Wimbledon, that are seen as the pinnacle of the sport. And likewise, most golfers would prioritise the Majors over the Olympics given the choice. This warrants some explanation for people considering which sports to buy tickets for at the Olympics. And strange as it may be, for female road cyclists, the Olympic gold medal is the ultimate prize, but male road cyclists would pick winning the Tour de France over the Olympic gold medal anytime. The dog2 (talk) 16:40, 5 August 2024 (UTC)

• Where, how, why on Earth does all of this have ANYTHING to do with travel? Why don't you take your POV to w:Talk:Olympic Games and see how it develops? THIS IS A TRAVEL GUIDE!! How tiresome is to keep on saying the same things, over and over again, day after day. Ibaman (talk) 16:54, 5 August 2024 (UTC)

This is not my POV. This is something that is widely recognised. Any tennis fan will tell you that the Grand Slams are more important than the Olympics, while any swimming fan will tell you that the ultimate prize is the Olympic gold medal. People travel to watch the Olympics, and you have to buy tickets to watch the Olympic events. I think this is useful information for people trying to decide which sports they want to watch at the Olympics. The dog2 (talk) 17:15, 5 August 2024 (UTC)

WHAT. DOES. THIS. HAVE. TO. DO. WITH. TRAVELLING. 2028 in L.A. is a LOOOONG way ahead. I reckon you ought to be mesmerized by the French girl who went gold representing Algeria yesterday, in the uneven bars event, and euphoric about adding something Olympic to Wikivoyage. Well, Rebeca just beat Simone Biles twice today, and you won't see me bragging and partying like a good Brazilian should, not here in Wikivoyage. Ibaman (talk) 17:27, 5 August 2024 (UTC)

I agree with Ibaman. Thus is just opinion, and not relevant to travel. Ground Zero (talk) 20:13, 5 August 2024 (UTC)

I agree with the removal of the paragraph. I agree with The dog2 about the facts, to the extent I know them – and they are facts, not opinions – but the paragraph as written helped little. A tennis aficionado wouldn't travel to the Olympics instead of Wimbledon, so we don't really need any warning, and telling what's most prestigious for each sport would be a boring list. If we were saying that a Olympic gold medal is the most prestigious one, then we would need to add "for most sports" or something, but I don't see such a claim in the article. –LPfi (talk) 09:21, 6 August 2024 (UTC)

How does one establish a nebulous concept like "prestige" as a fact? Ground Zero (talk) 12:43, 6 August 2024 (UTC)

There might not be any exact measure, but for most sports, everybody practising them at high level, as well as most that follow them very actively, would answer the question about the most prestigious competition without thinking twice. You could make research, to get some objective measure, but in clear cases the objective evidence is unneeded – especially for a travel guide (where less clear cases are even less noteworthy). –LPfi (talk) 04:52, 7 August 2024 (UTC)

In most cases, there is some degree of recognition by the governing body as well. In tennis for instance, the Grand Slams are given more weight than any other tournament when calculating a player's world ranking. You see the same thing with the Majors in golf. On the other hand, in badminton and table tennis, the Olympics and the World Championships are given the most weight in calculating world rankings. The dog2 (talk) 13:30, 7 August 2024 (UTC)