During the Tokyo 2021 olympics the average NBC prime time viewership was 15.5 million which is the lowest it has ever been since NBC started their prime time olympic broadcasting in 1988. The Tokyo 2020 olympics (which were held in 2021 due to Covid-19) were held from July 23 to August 8. The olympics have always been an event that people look forward to since the summer olympics only come every four years (same can be said about the winter olympics). With it seemingly like the popularity of the olympics is going down it brings up the point why do we have the olympics. And in this day and age should we even care about the olympics?

The original olympics were quite bit different from our modern olympics and were held around 776 BC in ancient Greece. These ancient olympic games were held as a celebration in honor of Zeus and the other gods. The events that were held included running, long jump, shot put, javelin, boxing, pankration, and equestrian events. While these ancient games to worship the gods lasted for decades they ultimately ended around 393 AD. It wouldn’t be until April 6, 1896 in (appropriately enough) Athens, Greece that the olympic games that we know today would be introduced.
Later, from these first modern games innovations kept being made to the olympic games from new events, to the winter olympics, and over all just a higher caliber of sports and athleticism. In the end though what is the point of these modern olympics, they are no longer for worshipping the gods, should we even care about the olympics? Yes, of course we should care about the olympics.
A lot of people would say that the reason to celebrate the olympics is patriotism but there is so much more than that. It is a way for the world to come together for something that people love. Unfortunately most of the times the world comes together it is because of something tragic or bad. Sometimes the world is completely divided but the olympics a time for the world to come together to celebrate.
The olympics can give us hope. We see athletes cry tears of joy as they realize all of their hardwork and training paid off. The emotion of that is something that can reach everyone. We can see inspiration. Their hardwork can inspire everyone. Whether it is just to give your all in a job or inspiring a little kid to take up their sport and give it their all. The achievements of these athletes and the emotions they are able to make us feel are genuine and we need to see more of that in our lives.
In the end no one can make you watch the olympics. They are truly subjective and not everyone will want to watch them. But I think that everyone should at least give them a try. From the very beginning the olympics were a way to come together and we still honor that to this day. The pride and connection to the world that we are able to feel through watching the olympics should be something that everyone should experience.