Altering Olympic Competition Events

[ChemGal]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/local-olympian-says-ioc-decision-to-relocate-races-may-cost-him-a-medal-1.5323069?fbclid=IwAR3xOOOVv27aRrsGc0oy7yqQsfQWcN5W0MHCaK_u9Vo3Tx20aHGLpk65gUM

Thought this was interesting. I side more with Cliff on this - Olympics are about athleticism not extreme. Want extreme? That's what those Tough Mudder type events are for. For outdoor events, the environment will always be a factor but I don't see the need to purposely make it extreme. And there are limits to what people can do and that varies greatly individual to individual.
There are also spectators to consider too, having crowds in hot areas isn't always the best either though that's true of many events, not during endurance ones.
Plan appropriately though too , instead of changes why not pick a suitable location to start with.

 

[mgagnonlv]

The problem is that many international competitions, and especially Olympic games are ruled by finances rather than common sense. Schedule in the latest games have been made for US TV spectators (especially on the Eastern coast) because that's the networks that pay the highest broadcasting fees; that was a serious problem in Scotchi and Peking winter games.

The problem with races in extreme conditions (extreme cold or heat) is that it judges people more for their climate-coping techniques than their running techniques. I wish that people were pacing themselves more conservatively, but unfortunately that's not the case. The other problem is that if a competition venue is changed at the last moment (not exactly the case here), people who have trained specifically for warm-weather resistance suddenly lose the benefit of that training.