The Olympics is No Fun and Games

The underrepresented perils of the beloved Olympics.

While the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games was looked down upon due to the authoritarian and violent actions of the Chinese Communist Party and the several diplomatic boycotts that the event brought with it, there is an upcoming Olympics much closer to home that needs to be examined: the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The LA Games are over six years away, but the movement against the local Olympics has been going since Los Angeles was chosen as a host city, five years ago.

Even though the location for the 2028 Olympics is set in stone, a movement by the name of NOlympics LA, and its sponsors such as Black Lives Matter and the LA Tenants Union, want the Los Angeles Olympics canceled. “The first goal of NOlympics is ending the 2028 Olympics. We would like them to not happen. We don’t think there is a way to make them better. We simply think the best option is to say no, let’s not do them,” says NOlympics representative, Eric Sheehan.

Some Angelenos, voters that care about housing, environmental justice, and labor and union issues, continue to support the 2028 Olympics due to the misleading positive messaging from the LA 28 Committee, the organization that is putting together the LA Olympics. LA 28 makes a point of listing numerous pros of the Los Angeles Olympics. However, NOlympics LA states that these benefits are fictitious.

“There is one big myth of the economic benefit that comes from [mega events] like [the Olympics]. With the Super Bowl, [the organizers were] talking about the billions of dollars and benefits coming. What [NOlympics] recognize[s] is that those benefits are always short term. They are going to talk about jobs. Those are going to be short term jobs,” Sheehan said.

Councilmember Mike Bonin of the 11th District of Los Angeles agrees with the position that NOlympics holds at present. Bonin voted in favor of Los Angeles hosting the Olympics in 2017, but has since voted in opposition to vital aspects of the games. “I voted for it at the time. I tried to build in more security safeguards and financial accountability and it was largely dismissed. But, the pressure and the public support for it was pretty strong, so I voted in favor of it. If the issue were to come up again now, I would vote against it.”

The cessation of this LA 28 Committee’s disinformation campaign is another prime objective of the NOlympics movement. Disinformation can only be discontinued by the spread of factual information. Bonin explains, “NOlympics has done their research. They have studied the impact of the Olympics in other cities more than most members of the LA City Council have.”

The analyzed topics include environmental impact, which is one of the most high profile matters discussed in relation to the Olympics. At face value, a mega event would not be seen as conducive to creating an environmentally friendly place. The organizers of the 2016 Olympic Games tried to squash this notion. “In Rio de Janeiro, [the International Olympics Committee] said that they were going to clean up Guanabara Bay, which is this bay that has been polluted by corporations. It was not cleaned up and [the IOC] used it as a PR push to make them look good. We call it greenwashing,” Sheehan said.

This greenwashing is pointed out by critics in the three most recent Olympics as well. In all cases, there was deforestation in order to produce materials for the games and to make way for venues. With the 2022 Olympics, Beijing’s heavy reliance on coal, as well as the mass amounts of chemicals and water used for fake snow, has spelled disaster for the climate.

Yet, despite these issues, some Angelenos remain unconvinced because they think that the Olympics will benefit youth sports. Supporting the activity of youth is something that nobody can say “no” to, and if an event is funding it, they must support it. However, this is not as clear cut as it may seem on the surface.

“The International Olympics Committee has talked a lot about providing youth sports for the city. What they don’t talk about is that a lot of the money that is going towards youth sports is going to a program that is going to be run by volunteers. There is a lot of money going towards it, but they are asking people to volunteer,” Sheehan said.

It is not surprising that many people would be willing to volunteer for anything relating to the Olympics. Many people, including athletes competing in the 1984 Games and current Mayor Eric Garcetti speak of how wonderful it was to view and compete in the city that they call home. Now, folks want to do their part to make sure that the next generation of Angelenos are able to enjoy the same life-changing experience as their parents did.

“For all those fond memories people have of the ‘84 Olympics, there were also people with very negative impacts. The people who were displaced, the people who were thrown in jail, the people whose neighborhoods were gentrified. So, I would love everyone to have a fond memory of the Olympics, but I’m not willing to have the least among us have a horrible experience so that others can have a positive one,” Bonin said.