A Progressive Olympics

The following is a copy of the letter I sent to the International Olympic Committee this past summer. I firmly believe that for the Olympic Movement to be truly Olympic, it must include the concerns of the poor and vulnerable.


International Olympic Committee
Château de Vidy
1007 Lausanne
Switzerland

Dear Members of the International Olympic Committee,

Peace! I write to you with a sincere appreciation for all that the Olympic movement has done to unify our world. I recall with joy all of the wonderful events I have witnessed as an avid fan of the summer and winter Olympics. There are no other international events that capture the attention of people around the world and that sow hopes for peace and justice in our world like the Olympics do. It seems strange to suggest that, given all of your dedication and work, there might be a way to improve an already successful movement, and yet there is one area in which the Olympic movement can grow: to continue its progress as an international athletic and cultural movement, the Olympic movement must transform itself into a vehicle for lifting up the global poor and for healing past divisions.

Each Olympics has been characterized by international cooperation and a healthy competition which has sowed international brotherhood and sisterhood among athletes and spectators, and yet at many of the past Olympics, the very effort to prepare a host city for the games has displaced the very people who are most in need. According to The Center for Housing Rights and Evictions, the Beijing Olympics displaced 1.5 million people and many other Olympic games have displaced the poor. Moreover, at some Olympics, the host city incurs a massive debt which inevitably leads to a reduction in services for the poor.

I propose that the International Olympic Committee adopt the following criteria:

1. The Olympic Committee will adopt the ethical principle of preferential option for the poor and encourage cities and countries in need of development to develop bids to host the summer and winter games.
2. When discerning among a group of Olympic sites, the site most in need of economic development and best suited to develop the appropriate venues will win the bid.
3. No single person will be rendered homeless as a result of Olympic preparations. If Olympic development will displace people, the host city must demonstrate the financing, architectural plans and the moving assistance it will provide to the people who will be displaced. The city and the people to be displaced must sign a contract requiring the city to honor this commitment. The top television sponsors must also sign a contract with the people to be displaced dedicating an appropriate percentage of their profit to assist in the process of moving those to be displaced.
4. No more than .0001% of a city’s population can be displaced.
5. The homeless will not be moved to render a games more cosmetically pleasing. If so, the host city will be publicly sanctioned and fined by the IOC and its sponsors.
6. In preparing an Olympic bid, a host city must demonstrate how the Olympic buildings will retain their value after the Olympics. For example, Atlanta was able to turn Olympic stadium into a baseball park. After the games, if the Olympic buildings will not be utilized at least two months per year, the city cannot host the games.
7. After the Olympics, a majority of the housing built for the Olympics will be turned into some form of housing for the poor. The income earned from the remaining housing will be used to help finance the percentage that will be given to the poor.
8. The Olympic Committee will do its best to prudently use the Olympics to unify formerly warring factions throughout the world. For example, a Holy Land Olympics would be hosted by Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia would participate in a manner acceptable to Saudi society.
9. The International Olympic Committee will require that all uniforms and clothing produced for the athletes to be used in official capacities at the games will be the product of fair trade contracts. All souvenirs sold within two miles of the Olympic Park will be produced through fair trade contracts.

To implement these principles, I strongly urge the consideration of these future Olympic sites:

1. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for Summer 2016.
2. Sarajevo, Bosnia for Winter 2018 to heal wounds and restore a previously Olympic city.
3. Lake Erie (Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland, Akron, Canton, Columbus, Youngstown, Pittsburgh) for Summer 2020. This Olympics would create fair trade for Nicaragua and Haiti. The Cleveland Olympic park would be designed to host summer concerts, year round athletic events, and Ice Ballet in the winter.
4. A unified Korean Winter Games 2022, as a goal for nuclear disarmament and the unification of the Koreas.
5. Israel-Palestine-Syria-Lebanon-Egypt-Jordan will host together in 2024 to help secure a lasting peace. Saudi Arabia can participate in a way that Saudi society would find appropriate.



There are many other possible future sites including Belfast-Dublin, Warsaw, India-Pakistan, Istanbul, South Africa, Indonesia-Australia-Philippines, Mexico City, Buenos Aries, Taipei-Shanghai, Los Angeles- San Diego-Tijuana, and Nairobi.

I am grateful for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,


Ed Lynch