Three things to fix before the 2018 Winter Olympics

Though not as widely viewed as the Summer Olympics, the Winter Games bring their own set of excitement, heartbreak and sociopolitical turmoil that captures worldwide attention. While commentators end the Rio edition and speak of anticipation of the Tokyo Games in 2020, the International Olympic Committee will actually hand off the Olympic torch to PyeongChang, South Korea, for the 23rd Winter Olympics in 2018.

Considering the controversies that continue to plague Rio may actually continue into the preparation for PyeongChang, the next year and a half is going to be critical in ensuring a less bumpy transition between the events. While there are other significant problems at hand — from dealing with a health crisis to the whitewashing of a nation’s neediest populations — the IOC has numerous issues concerning fair play and financial transparency that are always poorly handled.

These suggestions won’t ever be heard by the IOC or even its partners, but here are three things we hope are fixed for a better experience 18 months from now.

Either the dopers are in or they’re out

The most controversial athletic decision of the Rio Games was the IOC’s passing of the buck to the individual sporting bodies in determining the fate of Russian athletes. With the massive state-sponsored doping program exposed prior to the start of these ongoing Olympics, it seemed as if the IOC feared that telling every athlete from one of the largest Olympic contingents in the world to stay home would have left a gaping hole in the Olympic Village.

Some sports organizations ended up doing the IOC’s job for it by barring Russian competitors, while others apparently operated on a case-by-case basis, leaving 111 of Russia’s 389 intended participants on the tarmac back home.

(Of course, the IOC decided to ban the media from using GIFs instead. Way to put your foot down!)

This, of course, led to the almost Cold War-like air around the swimming events, where Yulia Efimova became a pin cushion of sorts thanks to Lilly King and some good, old-fashioned American jingoism.

There’s no way to absolve any of the athletes who were allowed to compete at these games, as those who had been caught doping, yet were not sufficiently disciplined, should be properly dealt with. However, the IOC’s relative inaction created an unnecessary problem. Had the committee made the unilateral decision to ban Russia, which is within the its rights according to its charter, not only would it have somewhat eliminated a lot of shame and embarrassment, but it would have truly sent the message that doping cannot and will not be tolerated at a systematic level.

It remains to be seen what will happen with Russian athletes preparing for PyeongChang, but if the IOC imposes a blanket ban, Russia may have an argument that the organization already created precedent in Rio. If the IOC enacts the same policy for PyeongChang, competing nations and the sporting federations will have the same problem as now. The IOC needs to set the tone, and considering that the Russians’ doping program likely shaped the results on home soil in Sochi two years ago, the committee has to do so long before any country fuels its jets for South Korea.

Make nice with the NHL

Since the scintillating (ice) hockey tournament at Vancouver 2010, the NHL has been at an impasse with the IOC and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) over insuring the players who participate for their representative countries. While the NHL allowed its players and officials to participate, the rancor between the organizations had grown enough that the league decided to revive the World Cup of Hockey, which it controls along with the NHL Players’ Association.

The idea that the IOC doesn’t have enough money to insure the pro players — or really any athlete who participates in Olympic competition — is absurd on multiple levels, the primary of which stems from the obscene amount of money the organization milks from governments, broadcasters, sponsors and other business partners. The IOC got $1.6 billion in revenue from Sochi 2014 broadcasting fees. To have the NHL involved in Sochi cost a mere $8 million at the time.

Yet, the insurance issue highlights the other major problem. With a less than enthusiastic partner in the NHL, the IOC and IIHF lack the marketing might that the world’s premier hockey league could provide to add viewers, something they certainly enjoy from the NBA and WNBA when it comes to Olympic basketball.

The NHL’s formal participation is not guaranteed for PyeongChang, but while not having NHL players won’t totally diminish the competitive nature of the tournament, it sure as hell puts a major dent in the talent pool.

Tell NBC to keep ‘The Today Show’ away from PyeongChang

Look, we know this might be an even bigger pipe dream than asking the IOC to be honest about its finances, but let’s entertain the thought for a moment.

NBC Universal has the American broadcasting rights for all Olympic Games through 2032. Coverage on the NBC Sports Network, an actual sports channel that’s run by people who mostly know how to engage sports fans, has been very good. The use of other cable networks, such as Bravo, has been helpful in showing seemingly obscure sports to a wider audience. The NBC Sports App has been a blessing for those who are watching on multiple screens or at least without a traditional TV set.

However, as we’ve come to know for years, the over-the-air NBC has been its usual atrocious self. It was best explained by Vox’s Todd VanDerWerff after the opening ceremony:

Yes, the human interest elements of the Olympics — which allow athletes from otherwise obscure disciplines to enjoy a moment in the sun — have always been an important part of their appeal. 

But with every broadcast, NBC seems to act as if those human interest elements are the only part of the games’ appeal. It’s gotten to the point where the only events the network manages to show uninterrupted are races that can be neatly sandwiched between commercials.

This is largely because NBC thinks that anything over the air needs to be displayed as some sort of bizarre brand extension of The Today Show. From the inane coverage of the opening ceremony to patting itself on the back for the Ryan Lochte interview and so much more, Today continues to add to NBC’s poor Olympics reputation in impressively dumb fashion.

So, to the IOC, please help prevent an international incident. Offer NBC a rebate of some broadcasting rights money for keeping the Today Show crew at home. Barricade them from the media center. Sternly tell them that Michael Phelps won’t be coming. Just do what it takes to save Americans, and possibly the whole world, from… this.