Olympic recaps feature the latest controversial finish or result almost every day. Athletic competitions are always contentious — that’s just the nature of sports — but on such a grand stage, a minor glitch can easily become an international debacle. In Sochi, these controversies have ranged from humorous to crucial to the competition itself.
Before the games even began, a tiff among Russian authorities over a few thousand Chobani Yogurt cups made headlines. Russian authorities refused to let the U.S. import them for its athletes, citing a lack of an approved veterinary certificate, prompting references to a “yogurt cold war.” Are you kidding me? What is wrong with Americans that we care about this, and yet can overlook the results of the games? The lack of yogurt will not impact the performance of American athletes in Sochi, and will instead be used to feed the homeless in New York. As the games have progressed, other, more meaningful controversies have deserved our attention.
If the yogurt incident didn’t add to the tension between the U.S. and the host country, Saturday’s men’s ice hockey match-up between the two certainly did. Late in the third period, the Russians seemingly scored the go-ahead goal before international rules kicked in. The goal was called back because the net moved while the U.S. goalie was tried to make a save. You can watch the video clip 1,000 times and still not know whether the U.S. goalie moved the net on purpose. However, if you are a Russia fan, one replay is enough for you to show that goalie Jonathan Quick deliberately knocked the net off its moorings. The U.S. team won the game in a shootout, and the Russians are decrying it a scandal. One of the officials is American, which doesn’t help our case, but it definitely makes the story more interesting.
Qualifying for the Olympics is fraught with its own bag of tricks. Take American Ashley Wagner, who finished in fourth place at the U.S. National Championships and was still one of the three women figure skaters invited to Sochi. Wagner is one of the strongest women in the sport, but her invitation to the Olympic team still seems unsettling. Her performance over the past four years propelled her to Sochi, but the controversy left U.S. National Championships third-place finisher Mirai Nagasu in the dust.
Controversy has been a part of these games since the International Olympic Committee selected Sochi, thanks in large part to the games’ location in southern Russia. From Russian President Vladimir Putin’s homophobic remarks to the glitch during the Opening Ceremonies, Russia has lived up to its controversial reputation. Americans are eating it up.
Controversy is always magnified on a big stage (Janet Jackson halftime show, anyone?). Whether it’s a wardrobe malfunction or a political fiasco, we feed off controversial news. It both gives us something to talk about and highlights flaws in people who are seemingly faultless. Controversy sells tickets, increases ratings and fuels our desire to have an opinion.
You’re out of luck if you win gold on the same day that a controversy blows up. Televisions across the U.S. will show replays of these events, such as the Russian-American hockey game, not your amazing finish. What a shame.
We think controversy makes things exciting, but when a hyped-up episode overshadows the competitors’ achievements, we should reevaluate our priorities. Controversies hold our attention, but the exciting athletic competition should be able to do that, too.
