Soapbox: Winter games pure as snow

By Pat Devery

When the first Winter Olympic Games was held in 1924, seven sports were represented and medals were handed out for 16 events.

In Vancouver, the number of gold medals awarded will be approximately 88, spread across 15 different sports. It is an impressive growth-rate but nothing compared to the Winter Games’ big brother, the Summer Olympics.

In 1896, competitors in Athens stood in nine different sports for 43 events. In London – an Olympics that is now just over two years away – a staggering 300 events will be staged in 26 different sports.

Can this relentless upsizing tell us something about the philosophies behind the respective games? Has the Winter version stayed more ‘pure’ to its founding ideals? Has the Summer Games sold out?

This conclusion, while simplistic, is not too far off the mark.

Consider the sports in the Summer Games for which the Olympics represent the pinnacle. Unfortunately, it is a declining number. The inclusion of sports such as football, tennis, rugby and golf bring to the Games competitors who, if push came to shove, would rather be winning something else than an Olympic gold medal.

Ask Roger Federer, Serena Williams or Andy Murray to choose between a Wimbledon title and standing on the Olympic dais and you know what the answer would be. The response from professional golfers chasing a major crown would be exactly the same.

For these sportspeople, the Olympics is what it never should be: a second-rate competition; a diversion in a busy schedule.

That is less of the case in the Winter Games, which stands at the summit for almost every sport represented. This is true even for newer 'extreme' sports such as snowboarding, despite the annual and wildly popular vehicle provided by the X Games.

Even for ice hockey, a sport played at its elite level in the NHL, the Olympics brings something new: a chance to represent one's country at a tournament of unrivalled prestige.

This is not so for footballers or rugby players, for whom World Cups are – and will always be – the ultimate prize.

The inclusion of such sports denigrates the integrity of the Olympics. It is a detraction that, so far, the Winter Games has managed to avoid.

Watching the Winter Olympics is to watch athletes strive for perfection in the forum where it matters most. Few, if any, winter Olympians would trade gold for any other sporting prize on the planet.

And that is what standing on an Olympic dais should really be about.