In August the 2016 Olympics will be held in Rio de Janeiro, a large city in Brazil. The Olympic Games are the biggest, broadest sporting event in the world. Every four years, hundreds of countries send a team of athletes to compete in sports ranging from running and jumping to swimming and basketball. In the Burnet News Club we’ll be looking at how a big sporting event like the Rio Olympics can affect society, and finding out whether you think sport is good or bad for society.

1. RIO 2016
SPORT AND SOCIETY
Photo: lazyllama / www.shutterstock.com

2. RIO 2016: SPORT AND SOCIETY
Background

3. 1RIO 2016:
SPORT AND SOCIETY
Background
THE HISTORY OF
THE GAMES:
The Olympics were
first held by the
ancient Greeks
nearly 3,000 years
ago. They were
played for the
Greek gods in
an ancient town
called Olympia.
Photo: Ververidis Vasilis / www.shutterstock.com

4. 2
RIO 2016:
SPORT AND SOCIETY
Background
The modern
Games are based
on the value of
Olympism, the
Olympic spirit. This
means contributing
positively to your
society by working
hard and looking
after your body and
your mind. This
Olympic spirit is also
about friendship,
being proud of your
community and
playing sport fairly.
Photo: lazyllama / www.shutterstock.com

5. 3RIO 2016:
SPORT AND SOCIETY
Background
Winners receive
medals:
• gold for first place
• silver for second
• bronze for third
and a hero’s
welcome when
they return
home!
Photo: Pete Nieson / www.shutterstock.com

6. 4
RIO 2016:
SPORT AND SOCIETY
Background
Sports and
politics have
always been
linked. In 1936
Germany held the
Olympic Games.
Adolf Hitler, the
leader of the Nazi
Party, claimed
Germans were the
best group of
people in the world.
Jesse Owens, a
black American
athlete, won four
gold medals proving
the Nazis wrong.

7. 5RIO 2016:
SPORT AND SOCIETY
Background
Hosting the Olympics
puts a country in the
global spotlight.
Many developing
countries have used
the Games to announce
to the world that they
are more powerful and
influential than before.
China did this in 2008
when they hosted
the Olympic Games
in Beijing.
Photo: fstockfoto / www.shutterstock.com

8. 6
RIO 2016:
SPORT AND SOCIETY
Background
Most countries
that host the
Olympics end up
spending lots of
money on stadiums
that rarely get used
after the Games are
over. This makes them
a bad investment. The
money could have
been spent on other
things that would have
benefitted more people
in society. For example,
building the country's
infrastructure.

9. 7RIO 2016:
SPORT AND SOCIETY
Background
Cities have wasted
so much money on
the Olympics that
the organisers are
having trouble
finding new
countries that
want to enter the
competition to
host the Games
in the future.
Photo: Yuri Turkov / www.shutterstock.com

10. 8
RIO 2016:
SPORT AND SOCIETY
Background
Olympic athletes
have regularly
been caught doping
during the past few
decades. Athletes are
tested for use of
performance
enhancing drugs but
tests don't always
catch the cheaters.
For example, the doctors
investigating accusations
that some Russian athletes
have been doping said that
the cheaters’ samples were
switched for clean ones
before they were tested.

11. 9RIO 2016:
SPORT AND SOCIETY
Background
The Olympic Games
can be good for a
country’s economy
as more jobs are
created. Thousands
of people work to
organise such a
huge event.
Photo: Pete Niesen / www.shutterstock.com

12. 10
RIO 2016:
SPORT AND SOCIETY
Background
The Games can
also have a
positive effect
on a country’s
economy because
they can show the
rest of the world
that the country is
a great place to
visit. This will
mean more tourists
will travel there to
spend money.

13. RIO 2016: SPORT AND SOCIETY
What’s next?

14. 11
RIO 2016:
SPORT AND SOCIETY
Background
Stories about
the success
of Russian
dopers suggest
the cheaters
are still ahead
of the testers,
meaning the
public is less
likely to trust
the Games
to be fair.

15. 12RIO 2016:
SPORT AND SOCIETY
Background
Some people say
that Russia should
be kicked out of
this year’s Games
for cheating in past
Olympic Games,
but others respond
that it is not fair to
punish innocent
athletes for crimes
committed by
others.
Photo: nikitabuida /
www.shutterstock.com

16. 13
RIO 2016:
SPORT AND SOCIETY
Background
Brazil is an
economic and
political mess
after its
Congress
voted to
remove its
president,
Dilma Rousseff.

17. 14RIO 2016:
SPORT AND SOCIETY
Background
Without
Brazil’s
president it
could be hard
to finish
building the
stadiums for
the Games,
and make the
event and
security hard
to manage.
Photo: marchello74 / www.shutterstock.com

18. 15
RIO 2016:
SPORT AND SOCIETY
Background
The Olympics
will draw
global attention
to Brazil at the
worst possible
time, given how
badly the
country is
doing at the
moment.
Photo: Ververidis Vasilis / www.shutterstock.com

19. 16RIO 2016:
SPORT AND SOCIETY
Background
Brazil’s political
and economic
problems could
lead to protests
that could turn
violent during
the Games.

20. 17
RIO 2016:
SPORT AND SOCIETY
Background
Usually once
the Olympics
begin, the
public and
communities
affected tend
to just enjoy
the sports and
forget about
other issues.

21. 18RIO 2016:
SPORT AND SOCIETY
Background
Some people think
that the Olympic
Games are good
for society
because they
bring everyone
in society
together to
share the same
experiences.
Photo: Paolo Bona / www.shutterstock.com