This is a half hour. Joining us is dr. Eric zillmer from Drexel University, here to talk about politics and the Olympic Games. Good morning, sir. Dr. Zillmer, how political do Olympic Games generally get . How much more this year because theyre in south korea . Yeah, welcome to the 23rd winter Olympic Games, known as the political games. Theyve been political from the beginning of time. Even when the first olympics was staged in 776 b. C. , the powers to be placed it in a sleepy Little Village called olympia to get away from perception there might be power associated with a town or a region. Since then, especially the selection of where the olympics are being hosted, has become a political hot potato. Just think about four years ago on in sochi. Now in pyeongchang, korea. A mere 50 miles away from the border of north korea. And in 2012, in beijing, china. Its a far cry away from st. Moritz and the country clubs of Winter Olympics in europe in the 30s and 40s. So with this games in south korea, is there a particular political concern or at least a political outcome because of the location that you described . Yeah, of course. As you know, north and south korea are basically in a ceasefire. Theyre at war. Theres a demilitarized zone. Its similar to thinking about the cold war, if east and west germany in the 60s, east germany trying to field an olympic team and was only allowed to do it later in the 60s, then competed as a country. Of course, north korea has sports. And the First Political item on the agenda was, would they actually show up to an olympics staged in their neighbor . They will, theyre sending a delegation of athletes. First theyre going to have an integrated womens Ice Hockey Team called korea. And members of the south korean, the north korean ice hockey members, will play on the same team. So i do feel that even though all the olympics are political mind you, theres issues going on within the olympics. Cheating, gender issues, the nhl, the professional nhl ice hockey players are not sending their players. Theres always the weather. And of course there is the politics of the medal count, also known as my way of life is better than your way of life. But the fact that its in south korea, and its that close to north korea, and of all the things weve discussed on your channel about the politics in that region, its going to be pretty interesting. What does history tell us about politics overshadowing the games themselves, and whats the potential of that playing out in these games . History tells us that the moment the flame is lit, the moment the puck drops, only the sports matter. Only the athletes. And that moment that we will watch sometimes lasts a lifetime. Thats what history tells us. Whether its the hitler olympics in 1936, or the tainted olympics in sochi with the human rights violation, and the postolympics invasion of crimea. But well have to see. Because this is unlike anything else. Right now, the news is full about the politics of the games. And not necessarily whether lindsey vonn, our wonderful downhill skier, is going to win gold medal going down this mountain at 70 miles an hour. Its really a sight to behold. So its going to be interesting. Eric zillmer, dr. Zillmer of Drexel University joining us until 9 00 for discussion about the Olympic Games and particularly politics within those games. If you want to ask him questions, you can call on the lines. 2027481001 for republican, 7481002 for independents, 7481003 for democrats. Internal politics, we had the issue with larry nassar and the scandal there. Does that play out to these games . Theyre winter games but overall do they play out on this kind of stage . I feel, yes. Because it was such a big scandal. It affected the gymnastic olympic team. Look, pedro, the way i look at sports, you cant separate it from any of the social issues that we as a society deal with. I think sports and music and art are a way to examine our culture. So whether its cheating or race discrimination or how do you win, how do you lose, sports plays a role in being a catalyst for social change. And so people are going to look at the medical coverage and how athletes are being evaluated by physicians. As they should. So i do feel that in the background, this is an issue. But its not as big as russia, for example, being banned from these games. I mean, thats big news, right . Which is overshadowed, i believe, by the fact of the location of the olympics. But all these things are important. And i think they should be important. Because sports is about winning with grace, and losing with grace. But also about how do you position yourself as a country, as a team, as an athlete in terms of trying to follow the highest level of integrity in exercising your sport. You mentioned the russia situation. Theres a story in the New York Times today, there are several athletes from russia still unsure if they can participate or not. How will that be treated . Well, the whole doping mess is i think at a stalemate. There is so much science trying to promote doping for athletes. Theres tremendous pressure by many athletes to make a living. Then there is this Antidoping Agency trying to catch up with all these things that are happening, from blood doping to using performanceenhancing drugs. In sochi there was systematic switching of urine samples by the russian government, to the point where theyre not being allowed to participate in these games. So yeah, i think its a big issue. The storyline says the russians continue to deny the existence of a statesponsored doping program. Our first call, sam in thousand oaks, california, youre on with our guest, good morning, go ahead. Caller hi, good morning. Thank you for taking my call. So i have a simple question on the politics of medal count. Ive noticed both summer and Winter Olympics, just about every other country measures the winners by the number of gold medals. Whereas in the u. S. , we measure by overall medals. And that creates a discrepancy between who won. What are your thoughts on that . Thank you. Yeah, its a i love this question. Its a good question. You can answer it, of course, yourself. Which is more important . By the way, for the first time, over 100 medal events, over 100 gold medals are being given out. The largest Winter Olympics ever staged. This thing is growing. And so i think every country measures it differently in terms of how well they will do. Norway is favored to win the most medals. They have in the past. And theyre favored to do so. America is better off if they want to look at it this way by the way, this medal count could be a cheaper way than hosting a military parade to show pride for your country. Although well see. So the medal count, if you have just all the medals, which is gold, silver, and bronze accumulated, you know, the American Team will look better in the view of global sports. Other teams that are smaller and have more gold medals could look better. So every country measures themselves differently. And theres really no agreedupon way of looking at it. In fact, many of the sports stations that cover the sports will do the medal count at the end, just sort of like an afterthought. You really dont want its about the athletes, about countries competing against each other. Yes, its symbolic of political warfare, especially during the cold war, where east bloc countries were more successful in sports than the west bloc. Mind you, in rio, the usa won 121 medals. And the next country was at 60. And the american women, if they were a country, they would have been the fifth most successful nation on this planet. From john in del rio, texas, republican line, youre next. Caller yes. I was curious. What if the north korean athletes decide to defect . Do you have something set up for them . Yeah, another good question. This happened during the cold war routinely. And so east german and romanian and soviet athletes would go on an international competition. What happened then, my sister was an olympic figure skater during that time, in 1968, in grenoble, france. I remember that it was an amazing amount of Security Forces with those athletes. I also remember during the cold war that all of these athletes had families back home, and they would be scrutinized if their family members would have been defecting. Nevertheless, many did. I think that, first of all, its a small delegation that north korea is entering. I think around 50 athletes. I think theyve been all vetted. And i dont believe that these athletes are going to defect into south korea. It would make news if that happens, though. The last couple of days there was news kim jonguns sister will be part of the delegation attending. What do you think about that decision by the north korean government . Yeah, its common to have people who are politicians or of highlevel monarchs or ranking people visit the olympics. Our Vice President will be there from the United States. I think its a good thing. Youre seeing a lot of youre seeing some interaction between north and south korea that you would not have seen outside of sports. So this is truly a sports diplomacy. And so the issues are, are they really to be higherlevel interactions between north and south korea . Just around the olympics . Or after the olympics . But its an interesting sign if one were to think of this as progress, that the two countries are talking to each other. And playing with each other on the level of a sports competition. You know, the opening ceremonies, as you know, theyre interesting. All the countries walk in with their flag. The first country that walks in is greece, the ancient mother and father of the Olympic Games. Then every country comes in. It will be interesting to see when the democratic peoples republic of korea will enter the stadium, what kind of response will there be . When the koreans the koreans, by the way, South Koreans are very proud people. Ive been to athletic events just two years ago, in cuonzo, south korea. 11,000 athletes under the age of 26 competed. They do an excellent job organizing and hosting these games as they have with the seoul olympics. You may remember they staged the fifa world cup with japan, together. So they have a long history of actually being very highly organized for events like this. So i believe that this is going to be a really interesting, wellorganized Winter Olympics. Steven in laurel, maryland, democrats line. Caller hi. I have two questions. One is, whats the relationship with the middle Eastern Countries . I know theres the israel and the murders that happened at the olympics. Also syria, i guess, last year there was some defections as well. And then my second question is, whats the who subsidizes versus how many how privatized are the athletes . So some countries, their governments subsidize. Other countries, its all private enterprise. I was wondering what are the differences in terms of competition . Yeah, so your first item was 1972, during the summer olympics in munich. I lived there at the time. My father is a west point grad. He was a colonel in the cold war. I was at those olympics when International Terrorist organization entered the Olympic Village, held hostage the israeli wrestling team, and killed them. And in return, the German Authorities killed all the hostagetakers. And so this was a big event surrounding the olympics. One of the controversies back then, whether the athletes should compete while hostages have been taken in the village. And avery brundage, president of the ioc, said they would. Mark spitz, american swimmer, won a gold medal while there were hostage negotiations taking place a half mile away. Think about that. So thats what you were talking about. We were not prepared for that in 1972. In 1968, when my sister was competing, i was able to walk into the Olympic Village without any security clearance. Now, in 2018, there are 2,000 athletes, approximately. 5,000 police forces. 10,000 security. And, look, russia paid 50 billion to host their olympics. A lot of that infrastructure goes into security. Your second question about how Athletes Fund themselves. Its a good question. How do you follow that olympic dream . My sister skated for west germany. And the German Government gave her a stipend each month to be able to allow her to compete. In the United States, its more decentralized. We have National Governing bodies that do help. But as you know, were a country thats privatized. We believe in entrepreneurship. So for many athletes, especially individual athletes, like somebody in luge or a ski jumper or an ice skater, they would have to find personal and private resources through sponsorships or through donations. Or they have accumulated wealth. So it is expensive. It takes time away from working. And you have to find you have to be very good to be in the olympics. You also have to be an entrepreneur, figure out a way to support yourself while youre doing so. Doctor, about these governing bodies you speak about, the ioc, u. S. Olympic committee, talk about how theyre comprised and have there been controversies within these committees and bodies . I think it works relatively well. Im an ncaa liaison to the United States olympic committee. I visit in Colorado Springs and watch how they organize themselves. And they give enough freedom to the individual sports, like figure skating or skiing, for example, to allow them to pursue their own mission while creating an infrastructure of highperformance excellence, in terms of having a highperformance center in Colorado Springs, providing sponsorships and overall guidance. I think look, its a business, right . If you win 121 medals in rio, your business is doing pretty well. So i think that not only do we have the best athletes in the world, i think we have the best organization in the world. Typically in sports, the team thats most organized will win. So i feel that this has done well. And mind you, weve got some interesting u. S. Athletes coming up. Shaun white in the halfpipe. Lindsey vonn, who i think the premier event will be the figure skating and the downhill runs. For the United States to see lindsey vonn come back from injury, the most successful skier on this planet. Its all about whats right about america is captured in one person. And shes a woman. And she also comes down a mountain. At a high speed. Its going to be really electric, that two minutes of her coming down, can she do it, can she not fall, can she win a medal . Thats going to be electric. I think it will put everything into the background about all the things that deal with the politics. But youve mentioned the doping situation earlier, we talked about larry nassar. Do these bodies have more onus to investigate these things and prevent them from happening . Yeah, the doping situation is more centralized. In fact, theres a World Doping Agency thats trying to manage it internationally. And so you have to you have an interNational Governing body thats looking at the world of doping. You have to have doping throughout the year when you practice. Especially sports that are highperformance, like that use a lot of aerobic energy. Like skiing, like Cross Country skiing. In fact, the tures doper who was ever caught in doping was 1968, he was a Cross Country skier. If you have to Cross Country ski for 30 kilometers, some people feel its like in bicycling. That they cant do it without doping. The idea how our teams are being managed medically is interesting. I think its more decentralized. And you see a lot of athletes have their own physicians and doctors and medical teams and trainers. So i think one of these this incredible controversy and tragedy that happened in usa gymnastics, i think the only Silver Lining is we need to look at how we manage our athletes medically and how we protect our young people. My sister in the 1968 olympics was 15 years old. She had 10 males managing her. Sports administrators. And so, you know weve come a long way. So i feel that the medical coverage its a good time now to examine how we manage that. From attleboro, massachusetts, independent line, sandra, go ahead. Caller hi. Our children are being sent to the olympics. And their parents usually with them, supposedly. And then we have all these people in place that supposedly take care of their health and wellbeing. And yet they were being molested right and left. And who is going to pay the consequences of that . And pay the consequences of these children that come back with mental injuries in the end because of the fact that they were sorry, sandra. Dr. Zillmer, go ahead. Yeah, sandra, youre right. This was an illegal action, what happened with usa gym that issics, exposed 150 athletes to a situation where they were abused. It is a really, really serious situation. Its just going to be hard to undo. The civil costs of that will be staggering. How parents interact with athletes is interesting. A lot of times the athlete doesnt want the parent to be at the event. Its just so distracting. Not only worry about going down a wlunlg, which is basically a cafeteria tray going down a mountain at 60, 70 miles an hour, and having your family and your cousins and what are you doing after the event . So a lot of athletes decide to go alone. And a lot of parents, by the way, decide to go without telling their children, and are sort of separately now supporting them in the audience. But for my family, my mother was the coach. And so sometimes parents can play a role in supporting their children. Its up to the athlete. But when youre dealing with the abuse that we documented whether it was penn state with sandusky in football, or with usa gymnastics, these things are ton in secrecy. Part of the m. O. I know this as a psychology professor, manipulation is secrecy, making the victim feel like theyre really not a victim, so they get tricked. And so they can even keep it from their own family and the families of those people that theyre abusing. And thats what youre facing when youre looking at this type of abuse. Doctor, you mentioned the Vice President arriving for the games. Usa today reporting this morning that his arrival comes as hes been at the center of Trump Administration efforts to downplay the significance of the recent thaw between north korea and south korea that has come with the 2018 winter games. Have you ever seen such an agenda come from the United States before . Well the United States typically doesnt weigh in on the olympics. But yes, ive seen it before. Just think about jimmy carter boycotting the summer olympics in moscow in 1980. And not allowing u. S. Athletes to, who have been practicing their entire lives, to represent their country. Of course, in return, the soviet union boycotted the l. A. Games four years later. So yeah, i mean, thats pretty heavyhanded, isnt it, to actually say from the white house, were not going to participate in these olympics. So i feel that its not inappropriate, the comments that were made, for him to be there is not inappropriate. It will be interesting to see whether heres a mere spectator or trying to actually get some business done, or position the american agenda into the fabric of the Olympic Games. Thats going to be an interesting story to follow. And so youve got all these layers. Like athletic, cheating. We havent even talked about the weather. These are the Winter Olympics. In st. Moritz in the second Winter Olympics, they had to cancel them, it was thawing, it was too warm. Temperatures looking good, 30s and 20s. All the executes are somehow executed on snow or ice, thats the definition of the olympics, whether curling or biathlon, so on. Well see how the american political agenda will be expressed through the Vice President. Victor in columbus, georgia, democrats line, were running short on time, go ahead, please. Caller yes, two questions. Not necessarily related to each other. The first one, in view of Global Warming and the lack of especially the United States, the production of snow, have you given any consideration to that in the future of the winter games, seeing that so much snow and ice is needed for quality games . Number two, we just passed a budget. How much money within the budget is honestly given to the olympic quality athletes, or the olympic athletes, for their training and for getting them correctly prepared for the games . Ill have to leave it there because were short on time. Doctor, go ahead. Yeah, climate it comes from a discipline called military patrol. It started in 1924 after the first world war. It is six an odd port, to carry a gun if you missed the target come you have to take a punishment let. Thank you for your time today. Yes, thank you. We host a discussion on rattling Sexual Harassment and assault. Watch the live coverage here on cspan three 3 your time New York Times Staff Photographer talks about covering president trump. He enjoys having us around. Despite his constant, you know, comments about fake news and the media and so forth, i really feel he enjoys having us around because it helps drive his message, drives the news of the day, which he can do every day and does every day. He is constantly driving the message. Therefore, having us around really allows him to do that. Our history series returns this month with a look at 12 new Supreme Court cases. Each week, historians join us to discuss constitutional issues and personal stories behind these Supreme Court decisions. Beginning monday, fabry 26 at 9 00 february 26 26th. You can get a copy of the book at our we
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