As the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games draw to a close, the United States once again topped all other countries in total medal count. Athletes such as Bode Miller, Shaun White, and Lindsey Vonn made headlines across the country by becoming the best in the world and standing atop the podium to receive the gold. But what about the other American Olympians - the ones we never hear about? Don't they deserve some media attention too?
As everyone knows, the media has its favorites. Numerous Olympic athletes are featured in magazines, newspapers, and television commercials before, during, and after the games. But what I've noticed is that the same select few athletes appear in the nation's media over and over again. These athletes get the most media coverage despite the outcome of their events. If they are victorious, they are praised for their accomplishment and if they lose, some excuse is given as to why they did not succeed.
America produces some of the greatest athletes in the world. American athletes compete in nearly every event of the Olympics. The bitter reality of the Olympics is that only three medals are awarded in each event. Many athletes do not place and therefore go unnoticed. These "lesser-known" Olympic athletes put in the same effort, training, and preparation for the games; however they do not receive nearly as much media attention.
Sure, these athletes do not receive the same glorified outcome as their fellow countrymen, however, they are still among the greatest athletes in the world. They should also receive media attention and praise for all of their hard work and dedication. I'm not saying that they should get the same recognition as the medal winners, but at least some media coverage is deserved.
Does the name Stacey Cook sound familiar? What about Lindsey Vonn? Of Course you have heard of Lindsey Vonn. Her name was plastered all over the 2010 Vancouver Games. She was featured in Sport's Illustrated, numerous advertisements, and appeared in many news interviews. It is less likely that you have heard of Stacey Cook. Believe it or not, she skied in the same downhill event that Vonn medaled in. But she was not a media favorite and therefore received no news coverage. Cook did not medal, but she's got to be pretty darn good to be skiing in the Olympics. (Cook placed eleventh in the event.) I think its time that we give all of our Olympic athletes a fair share of the spotlight.
I am not trying to take any glory away from our medal winners. They put forth a massive amount of hard work and dedication and are fully deserving of their medals. I simply feel that we should pay a little more attention to the other athletes instead of jumping ahead and picking favorites. When the summer Olympics roll around, I will be cheering on every American underdog and lesser-known athlete.
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ReplyDeleteI agree we give attention to the best. We often forget about the ones who are not that great. What country treats their own people like that? I guess that would be ours.
ReplyDeleteI agree American sportsmans are always on top. And i wish them luck
ReplyDeleteI don't like the Olympics so I don't pay attention to any of it! haha
ReplyDeleteI agree that we should support all of our athletes, not just the ones that are expected to get gold.
ReplyDeleteWell-written, Browning - almost entirely error-free!
ReplyDeleteAs for your content: I see that you are essentially focusing on the fact that in American culture, there is a tendency to obsess over the winners and never consider what it is like to be a "loser" (although you certainly do point out it is difficult to be a loser if you qualified for the Olympics!).
Now, media outlets like TV may not have time to focus on every athlete, so I can forgive them somewhat for that inherent time restraint. But you have to also think that in the newspapers and blogs of the internet, there must be enough space to take a peek into the inspirational lives of every Olympic athlete.
In ancient Greece, to simply be in the Olympics was to give honor to your city state. To them, therefore, we would be the winners, since we were represented by so many (we have a large olympic team) athletes at the games.
That's not a particularly American way of looking at things, however. We tend to place the individual before the society, and so we concentrate on the winners. An interesting dynamic.
In life there's only first place. Everyone else is just a loser. Thats the sad fact of life. And if you disagree with me than thats ok, you can just blame your ignorance. haha take that!
ReplyDeleteGood post! I agree with Owen, it's sad that we do only focus on the person who gets first place. Every olympian should matter, even if they aren't the greatest.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. It is true that only a few athletes got sportlight. Of course, these athletes deserve to get sportlight by mass media.
ReplyDeleteHowever, people need to encouage 'less known athletes'. We need to concern about them. The next medalist will be them.
We should support all athletes!
ReplyDeleteI think that you should feel honored if you are participating in the Olympics and therefore you shouldn't complain too much if you aren't a medalist winner because not many people get to say they've participated in the Olympics.
ReplyDeleteI loved this post! I completely agree that all of the athletes involved in the Olympics should get some recognition.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this post entirely, all Olympic athletes should get some recognition. They all trained as much as each other, just some get more publicity.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Everyone focuses on first place and not the other competetors.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this post, and I think that we need to recognize all Olympic athletes.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely and believe that no matter what they place they should be recognized.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with this post. All athletes should get some attention.
ReplyDeleteFirst is first, and second is last.
ReplyDeleteMistakes are made, but those who deserve it and those who have luck on their side at the time are the winners. I think that respect is given to all athletes, especially those in the Olympics.
I really don't pay very much attention to the Olympics, but I think that all of the people in the Olympics should get at least a little attention because they did a lot of work and training to get there.
ReplyDeleteI really like Olympics, but people only care Gold medal. Atheletes worked really hard. people should know how they practiced hard for Olympics.
ReplyDeleteGood post:)
I think this is just what people tend to want to hear about. As sad as it is, there isn't much that can be done against it.
ReplyDeletesad unknown team members. USA, USA, USA! good post
ReplyDeleteThe athletes of the olympics are so good and deserve to be acknowledged. I LOVE watching them.
ReplyDelete